Box Score
It was an epic battle, but in the end, #4 Biola (16-0, 4-0 GSAC) claimed a 62-43 Golden State Athletic Conference victory over #22 Westmont Men's Basketball (11-4, 3-3 GSAC) on Saturday night at Murchison Gymnasium. For the first 30 minutes, the game was a low scoring affair. Halfway through the second period, Westmont held a 29-28 lead. But over the next five minutes, Biola outscored Westmont 15-6 on their way to a 62-43 victory.

"It was a game of 'first team to get the lid off the basket wins'," said Westmont Head Coach John Moore. "They are a very good team and tonight they were the more likely team to do that. I thought it was a great college basketball environment. That is what is most disappointing. In these kinds of environments you want to play well from start to finish and we did not find the finish line. "We played 28 to 30 minutes of good basketball," continued the coach. "Our guys executed our defensive game plan very well in the first half. But offensively, we were in too much of a frenzy in the first half. The shots we took were a little hurried.

In the second half, after taking the lid off, the shots Biola took were very confident." Biola made all nine field goal attempts they took in the final nine minutes of play and went ten-for-ten from the charity stripe in the final two minutes. Westmont was led in scoring by Dan Rasp with 12 points. Chris Jackson added 10 points while Evan Haines tallied nine points and 10 rebounds. "Evan really controlled the boards in the first half with seven defensive rebounds (and one offensive) in the first half," said Moore. "Overall, our team's defensive effort in the first half and beyond was very good." The veteran coach was also pleased with the play of one of his freshman. "Jordan Sachs probably deserves more minutes. He had four minutes and he probably should have been in the 10-15 range. He played the most confident basketball he has played since he has been a Warrior. He played with poise and confidence for the short time he was in."

Before the game, Moore was honored in a short ceremony recognizing two significant milestones, both achieved on December 19 when the Warriors defeated Cal State Maritime in Vallejo by a score of 78-61. The game was the five-hundredth in which Moore has served as the Warriors head coach and the four-hundredth victory in his head coaching career. In front of a standing room only crowd, Westmont Athletic Director Dave Odell honored Moore by recounting his accomplishments. He noted that Moore was second in the Warrior record book in wins and in games coached, and first in NAIA National Tournament appearances and wins at the national tournament. Westmont President Dr. Gayle Beebe spoke of Moore's Christian character and commitment and presented Moore with a plaque commemorating the event. Moore then took the microphone and spoke of how thankful he was that this moment had taken place on Chet Kammerer Court, which is named after his coach when he played at Westmont (1976-78).

"Coach Kammerer is one of two men I respect most as a college coach. The other is the coach of Biola, Dave Holmquist, whom I have the honor of coaching against tonight." After the game, Moore expressed his gratitude. "I had friends who drove from all sorts of different places and I was wondering why they were showing up on a weekday," said the coach. "I talked on the phone with Chet earlier today and he gave me some really good remarks about playing against Biola that were helpful. It was a very classy affair to have the students there and to have a Biola-Westmont environment." Westmont's next game will be at Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday, January 16. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. [box score]