By Zach DeMarcus
January 6, 2018
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (12-3, 2-0 GSAC) defeated Menlo (13-4, 0-2 GSAC) by a score of 85-74 in this evening's Golden State Athletic Conference basketball game. The Warriors rallied behind senior Olisa Nwachie who tallied a double-double scoring a career high 26 points with 11 rebounds.
 
The Oaks took an early 10-4 lead four minutes into the game, but that lead wouldn't last long. With 5:37 left in the first half, Jerry Karczewski hit a jump shot that gave Westmont a 21-19 lead – their first lead since being up 2-0. They would hold onto that lead through the game's final buzzer.
 
Nwachie had already scored 14 points, pulled down six rebounds, and was perfect from the line (8-8) as the two teams left the court for halftime – Westmont carried a 36-30 lead to the locker room.
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "I thought Olisa Nwachie was really special tonight – 26 points and 11 rebounds. I really enjoyed watching Olisa play and the kind of energy he played with tonight."  
 
The Warriors went on a 12-0 run with just over fourteen minutes remaining in the game. David Gunn made a layup, Karczewski connected on a three, Nwachie hit two free throws, followed by another three from Karczewski, and finished with a layup by Nwachie. This brought the score to 60-44 in favor of the Warriors.
 
Karczewski finished with 24 points. He went 8-12 from the field, 4-8 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 4-4 from the free-throw line. Moore said, "Seems like there are very few games where Jerry misses a free throw and he didn't miss any tonight. He also is so consistent from the 3-point line."
 
Westmont's defense was able to limit Menlo's top scorers to 18 total points. John Paine and Jeremiah Testa have been averaging a combined 32 points per game. Moore said, "Zac Jervis guarded John Paine but it was a team effort there. I thought Jeremiah Testa was blanketed by Olisa Nwachie. Olisa can guard post and perimeter guys – I thought he showed that tonight.
 
"I thought this was David Gunn's best game in a while – seven points, seven rebounds, and great energy. I'm really pleased by the way David played tonight," added Moore.
 
Westmont had a number of younger players come in and give productive minutes. Moore said, "Matt Ramon and Tristan Lloyd know how to play the game. They don't play scared they play aggressively. They're only going to get better and our team is going to get better because of it.
 
"Gage Scheldmidine was special tonight as well. I thought Gage had his best game of the year. I was really pleased with the way he played. I think it's a good step in the right direction for him," said Moore.
 
The Warriors held on to their lead and finished the game with an 85-74 victory. With their victory against William Jessup this past Thursday, Westmont is 2-0 in GSAC play and off to a good, early start. Moore said, "What you look for in conference play is a team that is starting to gel. I thought tonight we looked like a team that was more like what I thought we would do a little earlier in the season, but nonetheless it's coming when it counts the most.
 
"These were two high-quality opponents. I really admire both coaches and the way they coach their teams. We beat two very good teams in William Jessup and Menlo who had a combined record of 27-4 coming into this week. It's important to win home games against quality opponents and we were able to do that the last two games," finished Moore.
 
The Warriors will host Bethesda for a make-up game this Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. The game was cancelled earlier in December due to the Thomas Fire. Westmont will then hit the road to play San Diego Christian Thursday at 8:00 p.m. and Arizona Christian Saturday at 4:00 p.m.