Box Score

By Bradford Sargent
December 10, 2016
 
Westmont (10-1) earned a lung-bursting 67-64 victory Saturday night against Hope International University (6-1).  This victory moves the Warriors to 2-0 in the GSAC. Despite a determined performance by the visiting Royals, Westmont broke away from a tight first half and played the entire second half out in front. After the Royals cut the lead to a bucket with 2:08 remaining, Sean Harman and Hayden Anderson went four for four from the free throw line and Cory Blau made a reverse layup to seal the victory.     
 
Stymied by Westmont's quick feet and off-the-ball concentration, the Royals struggled on offense. According to Head Coach John Moore, "I really liked our defense tonight. To defend Liam Hunt, who I think is one of the finest players in our conference, I thought Hayden Anderson and our team in general did a very nice job against a guy who I have great respect for." 
 
On the other end of the court, Westmont moved the ball unselfishly and grabbed six offensive rebounds as a unit. Samuel Bentz finished the game with 11 points, including back-to-back three-pointers in the first half.  Gerald Karczewski had a nice outing with 8 points and 3 assists. Sean McDonnell had 10 points and three assists. Hayden Anderson led the team with 7 rebounds.
 
In addition to playing all-for-one basketball, Westmont's players hustled hard throughout the night.  Britton Williams, who finished with two defensive rebounds and two assists, made an excellent play in the first half to save the ball from going out of bounds.  In a bullish drive to the hoop during the second half, Olisa Nwachie drew a hard foul and nailed both free throws.  Zac Jervis gave the team several physical minutes off the bench.
 
The Warriors finished the game with 15 assists.  Moore gave the fans an assist too, stating, "Our fans were fabulous tonight.  They carried us through to the end."  A special thanks to Boom Chaka for amping the crowd up during an excellent halftime show!  Coach Moore praised his team's "mental toughness," and their growing aptitude to win close games, which he hopes will carry over when they face another undefeated team, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (6-0), on Saturday, December 17.  Tipoff is at 7:00 PM in Murchison Gymnasium.