Box Score
Playing without head coach John Moore, Westmont Men's Basketball (22-4, 10-1 GSAC) posted a 63-54 Golden State Athletic Conference win over The Master's (14-12, 3-8) on Tuesday night in Murchison Gymnasium. Moore was with his wife Rachel and her family as they mourned the passing of Rachel's father Cap Lavin over the weekend. "The message was loud and clear," said assistant coach Jeff Azain who took over in Moore's absence, "we need to win one for coach. We need to make coach proud in how we play and in our effort. Losing was really not an option." Option or not, it was a defensive, physical battle that had to be won on the court. "They are hard to score against because they sag, they bump cutters and they hold," said Azain of the Mustangs. "We got a bit frustrated at times, but we did enough good things to get high-quality shots in the second half. "I was impressed with our defense tonight, guarding scorers like (Leif) Karlberg (8 points, 6 rebounds), (Devin) Dyer (10 points) and (Derrick) Fain (11 points, 3 rebounds) who got 30 points against us at The Master's. I was impressed with how well we defended them, especially on the perimeter."
That defensive struggle was evident in the 25-22 halftime score. The Warriors' offense started clicking as soon as the second-half clock started ticking. The Warriors scored the first seven points beginning with a layup by Niko Brooks (10 points, 5 assists) and continuing with a three-pointer by C.J. Miller (14 points, 9 rebounds) and two free throws by Cooper Damron (7 points, 8 rebounds). "C.J. Miller was active on both ends," noted Azain. "He had some big shots for us, was very talkative and had a lot of energy."
The early second-half surge proved to be the difference in the game. The Mustangs would get no closer than five points the rest of the way. Providing the majority of the offensive firepower was Preston Branson who tallied 13 points in the second half. "Preston Branson is starting to come back into Preston Branson mode," noted Azain. "We haven't seen him in his normal mode for the last couple of weeks, because of health issues. The Hope International game last Saturday was a turning point. Tonight he led us with 21 points and did a good job defensively."
With the win, the Warriors have secured at least a share of the GSAC regular season championship. There are three games remaining in the regular season and Westmont holds a three-game lead over #21 Hope International (22-5, 7-4) and #25 Arizona Christian (17-6, 7-4) who are tied for second. The Warriors need one more win to secure the top seed in the upcoming GSAC Tournament. Westmont will open GSAC Tournament play with a first-round game at home on Thursday, February 28 against an opponent to be determined. First, however, the Warriors have one non-conference game and three conference games to play. This week the Warriors will host #7 CSU San Marcos (20-4) on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. The Cougars, who are on an 11-game win streak, are one of only four teams to have defeated the Warriors this season. On December 19, Westmont fell 66-52 on the Cougars' home court. On Saturday, Westmont will resume GSAC play by hosting Arizona Christian, also at 7:30 p.m. [box score] [photos]