Westmont fell short in a double-overtime thriller against The Master’s College, losing an 85-84 decision on Tuesday in Santa Clarita.
The defeat drops the Warriors (15-10, 4-7) into a two-way tie for seventh in the GSAC with San Diego Christian. Furthermore, John Moore’s squad has now dropped three-straight games in league play.
“Tonight was a different kind of tough loss,” explained Moore. “The team played well, shot well and competed with a lot of Warrior intensity. We just didn’t knock down enough free throws and couldn’t come up with the big shot when we had to. Still, we made a lot of progress as a team and competed in a very hostile environment. It was just a great college basketball game.”
C.J. Miller led all Warriors with 21 points and 12 rebounds en route to his seventh double-double of the season. The senior has scored in double-figures in all 25 games this year.
Seniors Mantas Drungys (17 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists), Jason Ritchey (13 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist) and Marcus Farrand (12 points, 9 rebounds) each collected double-digit scoring column numbers as well. Sophomore Billy Keller tallied nine points, five rebounds and seven assists.
A slow-paced first half concluded in a 28-21 advantage at the intermission for the Mustangs. In opposite fashion, the second half delivered a ramped up style of basketball, with the Warriors equaling their first-half point total just 6:49 into the latter period.
Westmont led by no more than five points at any time over the duration of the contest, and even though the Mustangs were ahead by ten points (their largest margin) a few minutes into the second period, the contest came down to the wire – three separate times. Nevertheless, the Warriors came up short on each occasion.
Miller nailed a two-point jumper with 36 seconds left in regulation and the Warriors quelled the Mustangs on two shot attempts to push the game into overtime, tied at 65 points apiece.
In the first overtime period, the game knotted at 72, and three seconds remaining on the clock, Keller drew iron on a game-winning attempt from mid-range. In the second, the Warriors couldn’t overcome a three-point deficit with 14 seconds to play, as the team only managed to knock down a two-point jumper upon gathering a missed shot from three-point land.
