Box Score Westmont Men's Basketball, ranked at number eight in the NAIA, opened the 2012-13 campaign in Las Vegas on Friday afternoon, and did so emphatically. The Warriors outscored #23 Montana-State Northern (6-2) by a score of 37-11 in the first half, on their way to a 70-56 win. Westmont was competing in the Tip-off Classic hosted by Concordia (Calif.) and Robert Morris (Ill.).


"Defensively we had a pretty special first half to hold a team as good as Montana-State Northern to 11 points," said Westmont head coach John Moore. "We shot 50 percent from the field and 45 percent from three-point line. Not only did we play well defensively, but we also shot the ball well. Montana-State Northern is a good executing team and we held them to 17 percent in the first half and 34 percent over all. We out-rebounded them by a double-digit margin in the first half."
Montana-State Northern competed in the NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament last season where they fell 58-52 to Columbia (Mo.) in the first round. "C.J. Miller was the player of the game because he really shot it well," said Moore. "I also thought we got really good leadership out of our seniors - Preston (Branson), Niko (Brooks), Jordan (Sachs) and Cooper (Damron)." Miller led the Warriors with 20 points. Cooper Damron added another 13 points as did Jason Ritchey. "Jordan was as important as anyone on the floor," offered Moore. "He had eight points, five assists, one turnover and five rebounds. Off the bench, Jason was five for six and had 13 points in 12 minutes. Mantus Drungys was exceptionally good for us in the game. He is a nice defensive presence to have on the court." The Warriors will continue with the Tip-off Classic tomorrow when they match up with #13 Westminster (Utah). Game time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.