TOM BYRON CLASSIC SCORES
Day 2
Victoria (B.C.) 66, Westmont 64
Westminster (Utah) 69, Saskatchewan (Canada) 68
Day 1
Westmont 72, Saskatchewan 63
Westminster (Utah) 81, Victoria (B.C.) 80, Overtime
Host Warriors stunned by Tibbs’ game-winner
Everybody knows that in sports, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. At times you outplay your opponents and win. Other times your opponents outplay you, and you lose. But the hardest reality to accept is that sometimes your team can play an all-around solid, fundamental game and one lucky, last second shot can mess it all up.
That was certainly the case tonight in Murchison Gymnasium as the Westmont Warriors took on the Victoria (B.C) Vikes.
Coming out of halftime with a 32-27 lead, the Warriors seemed to step on the gas to expand the point gap a bit further. Two back-to-back three pointers by Britton Williams and Nate Marsing put the men’s team up by 11 points. Westmont was getting into a much needed rhythm on the court. This was the largest point differential of the game, and sadly would not last too long.
As the final 20 minutes on the clock wound down, so did the point margin between teams. The Vikes were continually working the ball down low to Chris McLaughlin, their 6-10 senior powerhouse in the paint. With McLaughlin going six for six from the field and one for one from the free throw line in the second half, he was a key factor in regaining control of the game.
The Warriors played the Vikes point for point in the final minutes—always keeping themselves within four points of a tie. With 25 seconds remaining, freshman Jerry Karczewski drained a three pointer from the left baseline to make it 61-62. Then a free throw made by Victoria’s Marcus Tibbs gave the Vikes a two point advantage.
With four seconds to go, Britton Williams pulled up in the paint and made a jumper to tie 63-63, while also drawing a foul. After a seemingly endless timeout, Williams stepped up to the line and as everyone in the gym held their breath, he made a nothing but net shot to put the Warriors up 64-63.
This story takes a drastic and unexpected turn of events when the Vikes inbound the ball to Marcus Tibbs who takes three quick dribbles, barely crosses half court and with one second to go, lobs the ball perfectly up into the air… and right into the basket to give the Vikes a sudden and shocking 66-64 win.
“Sometimes things are unfortunate,” opens head coach john Moore. “That was a very, very unlikely shot by Victoria after Britton Williams made a clutch basket and an even greater clutch free throw. I was really proud of Britton’s finishing touch there. For him to have to sit through a timeout and think about taking that shot, yet still making it nothing but net on the ball is a real sign of an incredibly clutch and reliable performer”
Williams finished with five points this evening, three of which came in the last five seconds of the game.
“I think where we lost the game was when we went up by 11 at the start of the second half. It looked like we were in great shape. But we had a couple turnovers in a row, and couldn’t get hands up on three point shooters. In the second half, our four three point shots fell right in the beginning and at that point I thought that momentum had swung our direction. We just couldn’t keep the momentum going forward,” continued Moore.
Despite the loss, many Westmont players walked away with impressive statistical performances. The men were led by Cory Blau who earned a team high of 15 points in his 29 minutes of action. Daniel Carlin was next in line with 12 points, six rebounds and a pat on the back for impressively defending McLaughlin who had two inches in height and at least 25 pounds on him. Freshman Jerry Karczewski closed out his night being four for seven from the field, with a total of 10 points and two assists.
Upon the conclusion of the 39th Tom Byron Classic, both Daniel Carlin and Cory Blau were named to the All-Tournament team.
“Those are the two guys who deserved it. Cory and Daniel both had nice tournaments. I think they would trade All-Tournament Team for a win tonight, but it is still a great honor that they both deserve. Jerry really made some key shots for us tonight as well. There was one three in the corner that cut their lead from four points to one point, which made it a one possession game. That’s really fun to see from a freshman” closed out John Moore.
The Warriors (7-6, 2-1 GSAC) will take the court at Murchison Gymnasium again on Friday, January 2 at 12 p.m. against Pacific Union.
Westmont vs. Saskatchewan Recap
The Westmont Warriors had quite a comeback in Murchison Gymnasium this evening as they took on Saskatchewan (Canada) in their first game of the 39th annual Tom Byron Classic.
Westmont, down 30-40 at halftime, came out with a vengeance in the second to solidify a 72-63 win over its opponents.
“We played really well in the second half. Any time you hold a team who was shooting as well as they were in the first half (51 percent), to less than half of that shooting percentage in the second (23 percent), you are doing something right. They were killing us on the boards in the first, and in the second we out-rebounded them by seven,” reflected head coach John Moore.
While the first 20 minutes of the game were a bit scattered, the Warriors were able to regain their composure and come out with the intensity and focus that is needed to be successful.
“At halftime we talked about leadership. We felt like we needed stronger leadership on the court, and our guys bought into the concept and came out much stronger,” continued Moore.
With more leadership came intentional communication and controlled movements. The Warriors did a fantastic job of taking care of the ball tonight. They finished a grand total of 23 shots made from the field, 19 of which came from assists.
“It was brought to my attention that only one of Saskatchewan’s five starters scored a basket in the second half this evening. And they only made seven total baskets in the second half. This speaks to how tough our defense was and how we were able to make it difficult for them to score” remarked Moore.
Despite the Huskies tall roster, the Warriors were able to shut down key players and fight for both offensive and defensive rebounds. Daniel Carlin finished with nine rebounds and Jerry Karczewski had five, while Sean Harman and Cory Blau tied with four each.
“Britton Williams (nine points, six assists), even though he didn’t get into double figures, did a great job of leading our team in the second half. This is still a new team for him—he’s still recognizing what his role is and tonight he did great,” continued John Moore.
“It was the first time in four games that Daniel (Carlin) hasn’t had a double-double, but he ended up with 18 points and nine rebounds. He shot very well from the field and had a really nice game. He played the most minutes in one half as he has all season long (18 minutes in the second half) and really contributed well,” closed out Moore.
The earlier game of the Tom Byron Classic was a point-for-point matchup against Westminster (Utah) and Victoria (B.C.). With three seconds left in overtime, Westminster’s Jordan Pryor sunk a three-pointer that gave the Griffins an 81-80 victory.
Victoria was led by Chris McLaughlin who finished with 22 points, while Westminster was led by Pryor who finished with 18 points this afternoon.
