Box Score
Westmont Men's Basketball (2-1) suffered its first loss of the 2015-16 campaign on Monday night, falling on the road to Azusa Pacific 100-86.
"I thought we played very well in the first half," said Westmont head coach John Moore. "We shot 53 percent from the floor and 57 percent from beyond the three-point line and only had two turnovers."
As a consequence, the Warriors took a 51-43 lead into the locker room at halftime.
"In the second half, however, we turned the ball over way too much (10 times) and shot just 34 percent," said the coach. "You can't win a game when you have that shooting percentage in the second half."
The Warriors also struggled defensively in the second half, allowing the Cougars to make 74.1 percent of their field goal attempts (20 of 27). Azusa only missed one of 16 shots from within the arc in the final frame.
"Defensively, we are a better team than that," asserted Moore.
Cory Blau tallied 21 points for the Warriors while also dishing off four assists. Gerald Karczewski added 14 points while Sean McDonnell and David Gunn added 13 more apiece.
"David Gunn really stood out tonight and Cory Blau played very well," said Moore. "Jerry had a good night overall and Olisa Nwachie played well at times."
With 5:35 remaining in the first half, the Cougars' Bruce English drained a three-pointer to put Azusa Pacific on top 39-33. However, the Warriors responded by reeling off ten unanswered points as part of an 18-4 run to close out the opening period.
Westmont held onto its lead for the first seven minutes of the second half until a steal by English resulted in a layup by Corey Langerveld that tied the score at 58.
Still tied a 62, Azusa Pacific put together a 12-0 run to take a 74-62 advantage with just over seven and one-half minutes remaining in regulation. The Warriors would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way.
Westmont will take on its first NAIA opponents of the young season this weekend when it travels to Henderson, Nevada to participate in the Desert Reign Hydrocephalus Invitational. On Friday, Westmont will play St. Francis (Ill.). Then on Saturday, the Warriors will face off with Benedictine (Ariz.).
