Box Score

By Ron Smith
February 09, 2017
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Forward Olisa Nwachie recorded a career-high 19 points and senior guard Cory Blau matched his offensive output to lead #12 Westmont Men's Basketball (20-5, 8-4 GSAC) to a 101-61 Golden State Athletic Conference win over Arizona Christian (15-9, 2-9) in Murchison Gymnasium.
 
"It was Olisa's night," said Westmont head coach John Moore. "It was his finest showing here at home. He started really well by denying an entry pass on an out of bounds play and then getting a dunk right away.
 
"I think he is learning to slow down and let the game come to him. His poise and his simplicity tonight made a big difference for our team. He is finding his way into keeping the game basic. He has the kind of talent where if he allows his abilities to come to the forefront, good things happen. He is focusing in on the simple things we do and that helps.
 
"I think Cory Blau is getting healthy," continued the coach. "He may never be completely healthy this season but he is more confident in his game and is playing a much more all-around game on both ends of the floor. Cory is rebounding, defending, taking good shots, passing the ball well and making good decisions. Cory has been pretty banged up, so to have him go back-to-back two nights apart is good for our team.
 
The first six and one-half minutes looked like the contest would be nail biter. With the Firestorm up 15-13, however, Blau drained a 3-point shot to spark a 22-4 Warrior rally. Blau's long-range bomb was followed up with an 'and-one' play by Nwachie. Blau then added seven more points via a pull-up jumper, another three and two free throws.
 
Sam Bentz (7 points) continued the run with a three-pointer of his own before Nwachie slammed the ball through the hoop for a crowd-pleasing dunk. Bentz scored on a jumper before a layup by Nwachie made the score 35-19 in favor of the Warriors.
 
By halftime, Westmont had stretched its advantage to 27 points (55-28). The second half proved to be more of the same with the Warriors extending their lead to as much as 45 points (101-56).
 
"We are really running the ball well the last two nights," assessed Moore. "I thought we got the ball off the backboard, and sometimes out of the net, and got into fast breaks. I think Sean Harman deserves a lot of the credit for how hard he runs the floor. When you run the floor hard, you exhaust the other team. They had to run back and Sean Harman and Sean McDonnell are primarily responsible for that."
 
Westmont shot 57.8 percent from the field (37 of 64), including an amazing 61.9 percent from three-point range (13 of 21). Blau went three of five from beyond the arc while Jerry Karczewski (13 points) was three of three. The Warriors also made 14 of 15 free throw attempts (93.3 percent).
 
Westmont returns to the hardwood next Thursday night to host Menlo (10-13, 3-8) in Murchison Gymnasium.