By Christy Cain
March 20, 2015
(KANSAS CITY, Mo.) Let's take a walk down Westmont men's basketball memory lane for a second. At the beginning of 2014-15 season was a team that was split down the middle with eight returners and eight newcomers. This was a team that was rated seventh out of nine teams in the Golden State Athletic Conference Pre-Season Coaches Poll. This was a team that held a record of 7-6 come January 1 (a month and a half into season). This was a team that took twelve weeks to receive votes in the NAIA National Rankings and thirteen weeks to officially jump into the Top 25. The odds have been stacked against this group of men from day one.
But the best thing about this team, is that they have never cared. And you know what? Tonight, with a 65-61 win over Campbellsville (Ky.), this is a team that has worked their way into the top eight in the country.
"Who would have thought," marveled head coach John Moore. "Who would have thought after our pitiful performance at Pomona at the beginning of the year that this team, who held a record of 7-6, would be here in the final eight of the NAIA National Tournament. Those fifteen guys in the locker room and our five coaches may be the few people who believed back then. They never had any doubt."
To say that tonight's game was exciting would be an understatement. It quite literally had a "David and Goliath" feel to it as the young Warriors took the court against a team stacked full of height (six players over 6-5′) and talent. They fought their way point for point through the first half. With opponents who controlled the key, it was up to our shooters to make some magic tonight. And they did not disappoint.
The men went 16 for 26 from the field in the first twenty minutes of the game. They sank 50 percent of their shots from outside the arc and made five of their eight free throws. While it was difficult to find a rhythm against the Tigers tenacious defense, the Warriors worked their way out of a seven-point deficit to go into halftime only trailing by one single point.
Coming out of halftime, the men knew that they needed to stop Campbellsville's three-point shooters who spent the first twenty minutes working at a 53.8 percent clip. The name of the game had to be defense, so Westmont came out locked and loaded.
In the final twenty minutes of war, Westmont completely shut down Campbellsville's shooters. The Warriors held them to a mere 22.7 field goal percentage and 18.2 percent from long range. The Tigers, who sank seven of 13 three-pointers in the first half, only made two of their eleven shots from downtown in the second. Westmont's defense was tight and there were simply no loopholes to shoot through.
With 58 seconds to play, the Tigers made a jumper to earn the seventh tie of the game at a score of 60-60. Twenty second later, Daniel Carlin was fouled while pulling down a rebound, but he went to the line and nailed his free throw, giving the Warriors a one point lead. Mere seconds later, the Tigers were at the line and made one of two free throws to earn the eighth tie of the game.
With four seconds to go, sophomore Cory Blau went two-for-two from the free throw line to solidify a one-basket lead. The Warriors' defense was so tight that as Campbellsville inbounded the ball from the left side of the court, they lost control of it and turned the ball over for the final time in the game. In order to stop the clock at 1.8 seconds, they fouled Hayden Anderson who made both of his free throws to solidify an ultimate 65-61 win.
"Our defense was phenomenal. That last stop forced them to throw it out at the three second mark. Our defense once again came through. Campbellsville had 43 total points at halftime and we held them to just 18 more points in the second half. That is unbelievable," raved Moore. "I would never want anyone to be at the line in that situation except Cory Blau – or maybe Jerry Karczewski. Then tonight, Hayden Anderson also stepped up there and had incredible belief. Those baskets were vital to our success".
Those final two free throws capped Blau off with a team high of 17 points, four rebounds and two assists this evening. He was followed by a dynamic performance by Karczewski who went three for five from outside the arc and totaled fourteen points on the evening. Daniel Carlin had his work cut out for him, but he remained steadfast in the paint, putting 14 points on the board and pulling down nine rebounds. Both Carlin and Nate Marsing will breathe a sigh of relief tonight as they live to see another game in the final stretch of their collegiate athletic careers.
"We kept it simple and we avoided being too emotional. We didn't want to play with too many highs and lows. Our guys played with incredible energy and I am so proud of them," closed out John Moore. "This is an opportunity for the Warriors to play on and we are not satisfied. We are far from satisfied and we are going to keep pushing forward."
As of tonight, Westmont is the only school who has both their men's and women's teams still standing in their respective tournaments.
If you would have told someone four and a half months ago that the unranked, young and seemingly inexperienced Westmont men's basketball team would be advancing to the quarterfinals of the NAIA National Tournament, they probably would have laughed. But the best thing about this group of men is that they never had any doubt. They have given their effort day in and day out at practice, competed hard in games and worked their way to a 23-10 season thus far.
Thankfully, it's far from over. The Warrior men will tip off tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. CDT against Mid-American Christian (Okla.). At the beginning of this week, there were 32 NAIA teams represented in this tournament, the Warriors are now one of eight. We may be young, we may be small, we may be the underdogs, but we are coming for the crown.
