By Zach DeMarcus
October 28, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball's (1-0) offense exploded for 100 points as they beat California Lutheran (0-1) this afternoon. Seniors David Gunn and Noah Blanton lead the way for the Warriors combining for 43 points.
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "It's a coming out party for David Gunn and Noah Blanton. They were fantastic.
 
"It's a brand new team – we're trying to find out who the new pieces are. David stepped into a real nice leadership role. Jerry Karczewski and Sean Harman are always going to be steady. I thought some of our young guys played well – particularly Ben Okhotin," added Moore.
 
This was Okhotin's first game in Murchison Gymnasium as he began his freshman campaign going 5-7 from behind the three point line, finishing with 15 points.
 
Moore described, "He's a great shooter. He's also a really tough kid and he cares a lot. He had a really nice night. I'm glad to see it payoff for him because he's worked as hard as anybody in our freshman group."
 
Moore said, "I think overall, for the first game of the season, we really stayed connected – even though at times defensively I thought we looked a little out of sorts. Offensively, I thought we found the right guys and got the right shots."
 
Westmont went into halftime ahead by a score of 47-35.
 
The Warriors finished the game shooting 63.3% from the field, and going 21-29 (72.8%) from the floor in the second half.
 
"We had 22 assists on 38 baskets (57.9%). That's a good percentage," said Moore. "I thought we shared the ball well. You look at a guy like Jerry with nine assists and only turned the ball over two times. That's a really good sign."
 
Karczewski, a senior captain, was one assist shy of a double-double. He finished with 10 points and nine assists. Gunn lead the scoring for the Warriors going 10-14 from the floor and adding 24 points. Blanton finished with 19 points and seven rebounds.
 
Moore said, "I like CLU's team too. They got the right guys the right shots at the right time. We struggled a little bit trying to contain them."
 
The Warriors scored 38 points in the paint. "I think that says a little bit about the kind of guys that we have inside with Noah, David, Zac Jervis, and Olisa Nwachie. We're going to score some points in the paint. We could have been a little more patient down there," added Moore.
 
Moore said, "The second half we wanted to out rebound them. At halftime it was a three rebound margin, and we were fantastic in the second half on the boards. We got 42 to their 24 overall. They only got nine rebounds in the second half and we got 23."
 
Westmont contained their lead and again outscored Cal Lutheran by 12 points in the second half extending their lead to the final score of 100-76.
 
Westmont returns to Murchison Gymnasium next Wednesday for an exhibition against Identity Hoops International with tip off set for 7:30 p.m.