By Christy Cain
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) It was a high intensity, electrifying night in Murchison Gymnasium as Westmont took the court against Concordia (8-1, 2-0 GSAC) this evening. The game was a battle for the entire 40 minutes, but the Eagles were able to pull ahead at the end and escape with an 83-76 Victory over the Warriors.
"This was a game of missed opportunities. I thought we had lots of chances tonight. When we built an eight point lead in the first, I knew we really needed to close the half well, because both teams were in foul trouble. But to go into halftime with a tie ball game instead of a six or eight point lead gave them a lot of confidence coming into the second half," reflected head coach John Moore.
The Warriors, who defeated the defending NAIA National Champions on Tuesday, were trying to continue their three-game winning streak. But as the clock wound down, they were unable to make the plays that were necessary to give them the upper hand.
"There were crucial times in the second half when we needed to take care of the ball, but we had eight possession changes without scoring," continued Moore. "When you don't score that many times in a row, you're going to have trouble winning a game."
Westmont not only outshot the Eagles 47.2 percent to 41 percent from the field, but also 45.8 percent to 39.1 percent from the three point line. But, unfortunately, statistics only tell part of the story. The Warriors were unable to slow down Concordia's junior forward Stephen Grosey.
"Allowing their best player to be as good as he was tonight with 14 rebounds and 28 points was difficult. He played exceptionally well tonight. We knew coming in that he was going to be a great rebounder," explained Moore. "There as a time late in the game when we needed a free throw rebound and we just couldn't get a board against him. Part of that is inexperience, but tonight we were a little bit inconsistent as well."
With any high-intensity game, there will be fouls that are called both ways. But tonight the Eagles were given an amazing 41 opportunities at the free throw line, and sunk 24 of them – which contributed to the seven point advantage that they ultimately pulled away with.
"I think the main thing that you want to take away from this one is who played well in a really tough situation. I loved the way Sean Harman played tonight. He had a perfect shooting record with 4-4 from the field and 3-3 from the three-point line, he didn't miss a single shot. Aside from Cory (Blau) missing some of his free throws, I thought he did some important things for us," continued Moore.
Once again the Warriors were led by Blau with a team high of 17 points and five rebounds in his 24 minutes of play. Freshman Jerry Karczewski finished with 12 points, four of which came from his perfect record from the free throw line.
"Against a team that has been outrebounding every team in the nation, to out rebound them by eight tonight was ultimately a good sign. There were definitely some positives tonight, we just need to learn how to close out a game," concluded Moore.
The Warriors now hold a record of 4-4, 1-1 GSAC and will stay at home this upcoming week as they take on The Masters on Thursday December 11 at 7:30 p.m.
