By Ron Smith
January 7, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) "Well, I thought it was a tale of two halves," said Westmont head coach John Moore of a real Dickens of a game. The 111th meeting between #7 Westmont (15-1, 4-0) and #3 Biola (15-2, 1-2 GSAC) proved to be a hard-fought marathon with the Eagles taking a substantial early lead. However, the Warriors rallied late in the first half and then pressed their advantage in the second to claim a 93-81 victory.
 
Biola scored the first five points of the game and stretched the lead to as much as 11 points. With the Warriors down 25-11 and just under nine minutes remaining in the opening frame, freshman Zac Jervis entered the game and gave the Warriors a much need boost.
 
"Our youngster, Zac Jervis, was poised and probably most opportune of all our players in the first half," said Moore. "He led us with 11 points, made almost every shot he took and made his first three of his college career."
 
Jervis' three-pointer came with 21 seconds remaining in the first half, giving Westmont the lead for the first time in the ball game – a lead the Warriors refused to surrender.
 
"We were pretty calm and poised in the locker room," said Moore about his team at intermission. "We thought we saw some things that were indicators as to what we were going to have to do in the second half.
 
"In the second half, our older guys took over. We shot it well and we played Westmont basketball both offensively and defensively. It is hard to stop to as good a team as Biola is on their offensive end. I thought in the second half we made it a little more difficult for them.
 
"I thought we moved the ball better in the second half and didn't rely on the dribble as much as we had in the first half. That ball movement led to 68 percent shooting and 67 percent from the three-point line. We didn't miss a whole lot of shots in the second half – eight all together and only three from the three-point line. That usually happens when you move the ball well."
 
The Warriors led by 13 (82-69) with just 2:51 to play. However, Biola produced an 8-0 run that brought the Eagles within five points with 1:25 remaining. That was, however, as close as Biola would get thanks to 11 of 12 free throw shooting by the Warriors down the stretch.
 
The Warriors had seven players reach double figures led by Sean McDonnell with 14. Cory Blau, Hayden Anderson and Samuel Bentz each recorded 13 points, Sean Harman had 12 and Jerry Karczewski and Jervis each tallied 11. The Warriors' other six points came from Olisa Nwachie who returned to the Warrior line-up after a three-game absence.
 
Of the seven who reached double digits, Moore was happy just to have three of them on the floor.
 
"We were at the hospital with Sam Bentz on Sunday, thinking he had injured the same foot he had injured his sophomore year. We thought he was done for the season. When the doctor said his foot wasn't broken, I think that felt like a second life to him. Sam didn't play against Arizona Christian and didn't practice much this week, but tonight he played like he had a second life.
 
"The last two games, Cory Blau has had 13 assists. Even though he didn't shoot it particularly well today, he sure passed it well with six assists tonight. He has had a very high assist-to-turnover ratio (13-3) in the last two games. Then he shot his free throws like Cory Blau shoots his free throws – a perfect six for six. He was sick as a dog and didn't practice the last two days. We weren't sure we would have him for the game tonight, but he played lots of minutes and did some wonderful things for us.
 
"Sean McDonnell got popped in the chin in the first half and I thought we wouldn't have him the rest of the game. However, he was able to come back in and give us some really important minutes at key moments and shoot well from the free throw line."
 
As impressive as Westmont's offense was against the number one rated defense in the NAIA – prior to tonight's game, Biola had allowed an NAIA low 57.62 points per game – the defense was just as good.
 
"Hayden and Sean Harman have been our stoppers," said Moore. "Sean was guarding Dakari Archer and Hayden was guarding a guy much bigger and stronger than himself in Caelan Tiongson. The two of them, with help from others, limited Biola's offense. But as much as they were playing defense, they were 11 for 14 between the two of them offensively – a real indication of how locked in they were."
 
The Warriors now sit atop the GSAC Conference with a 4-0 record. Four teams – Hope International, Vanguard, William Jessup and Menlo - are tied for second place with a record of 2-1.
 
Next week, Westmont will make its Northern California trip. On Thursday, Westmont will play at William Jessup (12-5), then on Saturday, Westmont plays at Menlo (9-6).