By Zach DeMarcus
January 27, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) A 56-point second half was good enough for Westmont Men's Basketball (16-4, 6-1 GSAC) to run past the Lions of Vanguard (13-9, 3-4 GSAC) by a score of 89-59. Freshman Ben Okhotin led the scoring for Westmont with 18 points and was 5-8 from behind the arc.
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "I thought we played a very mediocre to average first half. I thought they found there legs and each other in the second half. I was really pleased with two guys that came off the bench and played with great energy – Ben Okhotin and Noah Blanton."
 
Both teams shot well below their season average in the first half. Vanguard, a 44.8 percent team, shot 30.8 percent. Westmont, a 47.8 percent team, shot 38.7 percent. The first half stayed close throughout. Vanguard led by as much as four and Westmont had an eight-point lead with just under seven minutes left. Westmont would lead by a score of 33-28 going into halftime.
 
The Warriors looked like they were back to their normal selves in the second half. Westmont opened the first seven minutes of the half on an enormous 23-5 run. Vanguard committed their seventh team foul with 16:52 remaining in the half – putting Westmont in the bonus for the remainder of the game. Vanguard finished with 19 personal fouls in the second half alone.
 
Moore said, "I think what changed was we had a hungrier attitude in the second half. We realized that Vanguard was a team that was capable of challenging us. I thought we played a little too much independent basketball in the first half."
 
The Warriors were 29-36 (80.6%) from the free-throw line – Vanguard only had 25 attempts from the line. "I thought our composure was much better in the second half. We attacked the rim in the second half," said Moore. "One of our goals is to make more free throws than our opponent attempts – tonight we achieved that.
 
"Olisa Nwachie was shooting less than 60 percent from the free-throw line last year. This year, since conference has started, he's shooting 81 percent. I think that's an indication of working on your free throws and getting better at it," added Moore.
 
Westmont led by as much as 33 in the game allowing Moore to use his bench in the last 10 minutes. Gage Shelmidine, Matt Ramon, Tristan Lloyd, Maxwell Hudgins, and Brandon Jones all had minutes in tonight's conference matchup.
 
"I think you saw what kind of player Gyse Hulsebosch is going to be. He's got really good poise and knows how to play the game. We had a lot of new guys step forward today. Tristan blocked some shots and played physical basketball," said Moore.
 
Westmont's 6-1 Golden State Athletic Conference record puts them in second place at the halfway point of conference play. Moore added, "Finishing the first half of conference play 6-1, being one game out of first place, and having played the top teams at a pretty high level – I think it gives us a lot of confidence."
 
Today's GSAC action included #4 The Master's (21-1, 7-0) give #7 Hope International (19-3, 4-2) its second straight loss by a score of 88-72. William Jessup (17-6, 3-4) defeated San Diego Christian (4-12, 1-6) 89-69. Menlo (15-7, 2-5) took down Arizona Christian (13-8, 1-6) 85-77.
 
Westmont will head up north to face Menlo on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and William Jessup on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 3:00 p.m.