Box Score Junior guard Preston Branson poured in 21 points and collected five rebounds as Westmont Men's Basketball (12-2, 4-1 GSAC) battled its way to a 60-56 win over #20 Biola (12-5, 2-3) on Tuesday night in La Mirada. CJ Miller added another 13 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors and Cooper Damron contributed 10 points and three rebounds. The Golden State Athletic Conference contest was the ninety-ninth meeting of the two teams and gave Westmont a share of first place in the GSAC standings. Westmont now holds a 51-48 advantage over Biola.


"I think perseverance, resilience, resolve," said Westmont head coach John Moore when asked what he was proud of in his team's performance. "Resolve is probably the word that I would use most. When you go down to Biola at Biola by eight early in the second half, it feels like 25. Most of the teams we have had in recent years would have lost by a big margin. This team doesn't know how to give up and they won't give up. We had important shots when we needed them and we kept believing we were going to pull this one out." The Warriors never trailed in the first half, though their lead was never by more than six points. With under five seconds remaining in the opening frame, Biola's Given Kalipinde pilfered the ball and scored on a layup to cut Westmont's advantage to just one point (27-26) at the intermission. After the break, Biola picked up where it had left off and scored the first nine points to capture the eight-point advantage to which Moore referred. Damron ended the Warrior draught with a jumper four minutes into the second half. The Eagle's Andrew Murillo responded with a layup to restore Biola's eight-point lead.


However, Damron scored again with a layup and Branson followed with a layup and a jumper to draw the Warriors to within two (37-35) with 14:25 remaining on the clock. After a free throw by Biola's Dave Hopkins, Branson laid the ball in the basket again to cut the margin to one. Kalipinde stayed the Warrior comeback momentarily with a three, but a layup by Damron and two free throws by Branson tied the game at 41-all with 12:46 left in regulation. After Hopkins and the Warriors' CJ Miller traded layups, Jordan Sachs landed a shot from beyond the arc to give Westmont a 46-43 lead with just under 10 minutes to play. It was another two and one-half minutes before either team scored again. With 7:23 showing on the clock, Branson kicked the ball out to Miller who drained a three to match the Warriors' largest margin of the game at 49-43. The lead turned out to be short-lived as Biola scored the next seven points on a layup by Zack Zaragoza, a three-pointer by Chase Adams, and another layup by Given Kalipinde. Sachs was then fouled and converted both free throws to put the Warriors back up 51-50.


The seesaw battle continued with Zaragoza scoring on a jumper, Landon Boucher responded with a layup and Zaragoza hit two free throws making the score 54-53 in favor of Biola with 1:40 to go. At the 1:18 mark, Damron scored again on a layup, putting the Warriors up for good. Despite two second-chance opportunities after a pair of missed three-point attempts, the Eagles did not score on their next possession. With 13 seconds left, Branson was fouled, stepped to the free throw line, and drained both attempts, putting Westmont up 57-54. Biola quickly brought the ball up the court. Hopkins missed a layup but the Eagle's Kyle Bailey grabbed the rebound and fired the ball back to the perimeter where Chase Adams attempted a three-point shot. Though the shot missed, the officials called a foul on Branson, giving Adams three free throw attempts. Adams missed the first but made the next two, leaving the Warriors up 57-56 with 3.9 seconds to play. Davey Hopkins committed a foul before the ball was inbounded and so a flagrant foul was called, sending Miller to the free-throw line. Miller made the first attempt but missed the second, giving Westmont a 58-56 lead. Because the foul was flagrant, Westmont was awarded possession of the ball. Boucher grabbed the inbound pass and was immediately fouled by Kalipende. The senior guard stepped to the line and iced the game for the Warriors by making both shots.


"We outrebounded a team by nine that is outre bounding their opponents by 11," said Moore about the reason for his team's success in La Mirada. "Since Christmas break, our focus has been on rebounding and since then, with the exception of San Diego Christian, we have been outrebounding teams by double-digits. Especially on the road, it often comes down to defense and rebounding and I think we were able to find a way to do those two things tonight. I think that was the difference maker." The Warriors were helped not only by their own win on Tuesday but also by the results of other GSAC games. Seventh-ranked Azusa Pacific fell 74-54 at Fresno Pacific after trailing 42-18 at halftime. Fourth-ranked Concordia rebounded from their loss to Biola on Saturday by handing #16 The Master's its first conference loss by a score of 91-80. Vanguard defeated San Diego Christian 73-61 and Point Loma Nazarene posted a 52-46 win over Hope International. As a result, Westmont is now in a three-way tie for first place in the GSAC standings with Concordia (14-2, 4-1) and The Master's (12-4, 4-1). Azusa Pacific (13-3, 3-2) and Point Loma Nazarene (10-4, 3-2) are one game back in tie for fourth place. Biola, Fresno Pacific (11-5, 2-3) and Vanguard (10-6, 2-3) are tied for sixth while Hope International is ninth (8-4, 1-4) and San Diego Christian is tenth (4-8, 0-5). Westmont returns to action on Saturday when they host Hope International in Murchison Gymnasium at 7:30 p.m. [box score]