Box Score It was Upset Saturday for men's basketball in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Four of the five favored teams fell on Saturday night. Westmont (13-2, 5-1 GSAC) was the only favored team to prevail. However, it took an overtime period for the Warriors to finally put away the Royals of Hope International (8-5, 1-5) by a score of 73-70. Westmont entered the night tied with #4 Concordia (14-3, 4-2) and #16 The Master's (12-5, 4-2). But Concordia fell at #7 Azusa Pacific (14-3, 4-2) by a score of 84-67 and The Master's lost to the visiting Lions of Vanguard 11-6, 3-3) in overtime 80-76. As a result, Westmont is sits alone atop the GSAC standings - one game ahead of Azusa Pacific, Concordia, Point Loma and The Master's. Point Loma (11-4, 4-2) earned a share of second place by upending #20 Biola (12-6, 2-4). San Diego Christian (5-8, 1-5) earned its first conference win of the season by handing visiting Fresno Pacific (11-6, 2-4) a 61-55 loss. Good luck to the conference rater as he attempts to order the teams tomorrow.


"It was a tale of two halves and an overtime period with a tale of two different halves," said Westmont head coach John Moore about the Warriors' win. "The first half of regulation felt like the first half of overtime and the second half of regulation felt like the second half of overtime." Westmont outscored Hope International 43-24 in the first half, but was outscored 39-20 in the second. With 3:21 to play, Steven Jurich (27 points, 16 rebounds) scored on a jumper to give Hope International its first lead of the game (56-55) since four minutes into the first half. Jordan Sachs (11 points, 4 rebounds) was fouled on the Warriors' next possession and sank two free throws to give Westmont a 57-56 advantage. However, the lead was short lived as Austin Sanford (11 points, 4 rebounds) knocked down a jumper making it 58-57 with 2:37 to play in regulation. With 2:04 to play, Preston Branson (18 points, 5 rebounds) was fouled and made his two attempts from the charity stripe. Thirty second later, David Wedge (4 points, 3 rebounds), followed suit for the Royals and the score stood at 60-59 in favor of Hope International. A layup by Cooper Damron (18 points, 4 rebounds) with 1:25 returned the one-point advantage to Westmont before Jurich nailed a three to put the Royals on top 63-31 with 57 seconds showing on the second-half clock. With 35.5 second left, Sanford fouled out of the contest and sent Sachs to the line. Sachs made both attempts, to tie the game at 63-all.


"We took a risk," said Moore about the Royals' next possession" We decided to double the ball and not allow them to take the last shot at the end of regulation. They turned it over, we get the ball back and we got a good look by Preston Branson and a couple of tip-in possibilities." Unfortunately, none of those opportunities produced points before the buzzer sounded. In overtime, Westmont jumped out in front with a 6-0 run in the first two minutes. Damron connected for two free throws and then scored on a jumper before Branson pulled up and hit another jumper. Hope International coach Bill Czech called a timeout with three minutes to play in the overtime period. In the following two minutes and three seconds, Hope International outscored Westmont 7-0 to take a 70-69 lead. Matt Green (7 points) made two free throws and Jeremy Kilgore (16 points, 3 rebounds) converted an 'and-one' play on which TJ Lipold fouled out of the game. Jurich scored the final points of the. The Warriors recaptured the lead on a layup by Branson with 39 seconds left on the clock. The Royals brought the ball down the clock with an opportunity to run most of the time off the clock before attempting to score. With four seconds remaining, Matt Green (7 points) got a good look at a three-point shot, but missed. Damron grabbed the ball and was fouled. He stepped to the free throw line and made both attempts to complete the game's scoring.


"Cooper was amazing tonight," said Moore. "He made shot after shot, two clutch free throws at the end and a big rebound to make sure that we got the ball after they missed a three. Jordan, Preston and Cooper all had clutch free throws. Between the three of them, they did not miss a free throw." Sachs and Branson were each six for six from the free throw line. Damron was five for five. "As much as you would like to win going away, these types of games teach you perseverance, resilience and toughness," said Moore. "Sometimes that puts you at the top of the conference standings as it has tonight. "I don't think the conference has ever been as evenly balanced from top to bottom as it is this year," continued the coach. We are learning a lot about persevering and winning close games. That comes down to shooting free throws and getting stops." More evidence of the balance within the conference is the Warriors margin of victory, In Westmont's five conference wins so far this year, four have been by four points are less. Westmont will seek to continue its winning ways on Tuesday night when it hosts The Master's beginning at 7:30 p.m. [box score] [more photos]