By Zach DeMarcus
November 24, 2017
 
(ATHERTON, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (7-1) started their two-game trip to the Bud Presley Classic off with a win this afternoon against Northwest Christian (Ore.) (3-1) by a score of 91-69. Ben Okhotin led the way – scoring 20 points and going 6-7 from behind the arc.
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "I thought we responded exceptionally well, especially in the second half. I thought Olisa Nwachie and Ben Okhotin really did a great job of carrying us in the first half – Olisa was 6-6 and Ben was 3-4 from the three point line."
 
The first half proved to be a dog fight as there were 13 lead changes and four ties. The Beacons were up by as much as six in the first half and found themselves up by four with 3:50 remaining in the half. They lost the lead as a result of a Westmont 14-0 run over the next three minutes. The Beacons got six of those points back before the half ended, bringing the score to 48-44 at half time in favor of the Warriors.
 
Moore said, "Our guys played really hard. I think the guys were locked in defensively and knew their assignments well. We had good preparation for this game. Everything was pointed in the right direction – you just hope you're able to play well after you prepare as well as you do."
 
Westmont held on to their lead the rest of the game, and went on to outscore the Beacons 43-25 in the second half. The Warriors outshot the Beacons 57.6 percent to 41.7 percent from the floor.
 
"A great indicator of Westmont basketball is 26 assists to 34 baskets. Last game we had six assists. 26 assists on 34 baskets is outstanding," added Moore. "You have guys like Jerry Karczewski, Sean, and David Gunn each having four or more assists. Zac Jervis who continues to be one of our top assist guys – he led us with seven today."
 
The Warriors played well throughout the game and that proved to be the difference in the end. Moore said, "I think we stayed the course. I think it is a great bounce back from last game when we over dribbled and didn't move the ball as well as we did tonight.
 
"Now we get a chance to do what we weren't able to do this past Tuesday. We are coming off a 20 point win and are playing against a better opponent tomorrow," said Moore. "Tomorrow we get to play against a better Southern Oregon team. We were 15-1 last year and the one loss was against Southern Oregon – we're excited to get to play them."
 
Westmont returns to the court tomorrow to finish their time at the Bud Presley Classic as they go up against Southern Oregon at 2:00 p.m.