Box Score

By Ron Smith
February 25, 2017
 
(EL CAJON, Calif.) Senior forward Sean McDonnell made eight of nine from the floor and six of eight from the charity strip to lead #16 Westmont Men's Basketball (23-6, 11-5 GSAC) to an 86-67 win over the Hawks of San Diego Christian (7-18, 3-13) in the final Golden State Athletic Conference regular season game of the year.
 
McDonnell tallied 22 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Warriors in both categories. He also had four assists. Jerry Karczewski added another 15 points, four rebounds and three assists while Sean Harman notched 15 points and six assists. Cory Blau also scored in double figures with 14 points.
 
As a result of the win, the Warriors will enter the GSAC Tournament as the number four seed and will take on William Jessup. The Warriors will host both quarterfinal games on Friday, March 3 and both semifinal games on Saturday, March 4.
 
The Master's (23-4, 23-4), ranked 18th in the NAIA, will be the number three seed and will take on sixth-seeded Arizona Christian (18-11, 5-11) in the other quarterfinal at five o'clock in Murchison Gymnasium. Westmont and William Jessup will square off at 7:30.
 
On Saturday, second-seeded and fourth-ranked Biola (26-4, 12-4), will take on the winner between The Master's and Arizona Christian. That game is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. Then at 7:30, top-seeded and 10th ranked Hope International (24-6, 13-3) will play the winner between Westmont and William Jessup.
 
Down 9-5 against San Diego Christian, Westmont produced a 12-2 run to take a six-point lead (17-11). Blau scored the first seven points of the run with a 3-point bucket, a layup and two free throws. A free throw from McDonnell, and layups by Hayden Anderson and Sean Harman accounted for the rest of the run.
 
The Hawks fought back to take a brief 23-22 lead before Westmont scored 18 of the next 19 points. McDonnell supplied 10 of those 18 points while Karczewski accounted for five on a layup and 3-pointer and Bentz also scored from beyond the arc.
 
By halftime, Westmont had built the lead to 52-29. In the second half, the Hawks came no closer than 15 points.