The Warrior's 57 second-half points weren't enough for #16 Westmont Men's Basketball (17-7, 6-5) to overcome a 19-point deficit at halftime as #19 Arizona Christian held on to earn a 97-88 Golden State Athletic Conference (19-5, 7-4) win. The Firestorm extended their home winning streak to 13 games.

"I think it was all about digging ourselves too big a hole," said Westmont head coach John Moore. "We were really good in the second half. Anytime you shoot 60 percent from the field in the game and 50 percent from the three-point line, and shoot a lot of shots from both places, and you lose the game, it's a sign your defense wasn't what it needed to be.

"I thought we were fantastic in the second half," said Moore. "We brought it back to within seven. I thought we might sneak one out after playing a stinker in the first half. We were trying hard and made a good effort."

A three-pointer by Jerry Karczewski tied the score at 14 nine minutes into the game. A three-pointer and a layup by the Firestorm's Chris Sterling made the score 19-14 before Noah Blanton drained a three to reduce the margin to two points (19-17) with 10 minutes remaining in the opening frame.

However, Arizona Christian produced an 11-0 run to take a 30-17 lead. By halftime, the Firestorm had claimed a 50-31 advantage. While Westmont shot 54.5 percent in the first half to Arizona Christian's 55.6, the number of shots favored the Firestorm (36-22). The differential was the result of 15 Warrior turnovers and eight offensive rebounds by ACU.

"They are a very good team," noted Moore. "They are undefeated at home and they look like a team that is very comfortably at home."

The second half was a different story.

Back-to-back-to-back three-pointers by Cory Blau, Karczewski and Sam Bentz sparked a 16-2 run to pull the Warriors within six points (59-53), with 14:10 to go. Over the next six and one-half minutes, however, Arizona Christian outscored Westmont 21-8 to recapture its halftime margin of 19 (80-61).

Once again, the Warriors began whittling away at the lead, pulling to within seven (84-77) when Karczewski hit another three with 2:18 to play. The Warriors, however, would get no closer before the sounding of the final horn.

Westmont was led by Sean McDonnell who tallied 23 points and 12 rebounds. He also tallied a team-high four assists. Karczewski added 19 points (16 in the second half) and three assists. Blau scored 15 points and Bentz notched 12 points and three rebounds.

The Warriors return home to host #9 Biola (23-3, 10-2) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.