Westmont College Athletics

Warriors Battle with the Tigers
                                                                                                                      
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
By Jarred Davis
November 10, 2018
 
(LOS ANGELES) #23 Westmont Men's Basketball (2-1) fell to Occidental (2-0) by a score of 89-79 Saturday night. Westmont stayed within striking distance throughout the game but came up just short in the end when trying to cut their deficit late in second half.
 
"I thought their experience made a difference and our inexperience really showed up tonight," said Westmont head coach John Moore.
 
"I thought the first five minutes really set the tone. They were really confident and played hard. We battled hard too, but we looked like we're still trying to find ourselves - and we are."
 
Olisa Nwachi led the way for Westmont with 21 points, while Maxwell Hudgins poured in 19 and Matthew Ramon added 16 points.
 
"I thought Matt Ramon was the one who played as well as anyone." said Moore. "He battled hard, he was really doing everything he could."
 
Occidental got off to a good start, holding a 20-15 lead, but the Warriors refused to go away, trailing by only two points at halftime (39-37).
 
However, in the second half, the Tigers were able to create a double-digit lead (25-14) with 10:16 remaining in the second half.
 
"The second half, they kind of broke it open a little bit," added Moore. "They made some three's early that gave them a lot of confidence."
 
Occidental ultimately shot 52.4 percent from three-point distance, making 11 of 21 shots, while Westmont made only 4 of 15 attempts from behind the arc.
 
The Warriors were efficient overall from the field, making 26 of 52 field goal attempts, but it was the long ball that gave Westmont problems defensively.
 
"Making 11 of 21 from the three-point line, they were a pretty confident team," said Moore on the Tigers impressive shooting.
 
The Warriors got as a close as eight (61-69) with 6:48 remaining in the second half, but Occidental responded right back with a 10-2 run that wouldn't allow the Warriors to complete a comeback.
 
"I think we learned a lot about ourselves tonight," added Moore. "It will be good to get back on the practice floor and see what we can do to make up for the mistakes we made. I think these early season games tell you a lot about what you need to work on and I think we saw that tonight."
 
The Warriors have a full week to prep before their next game as they host La Sierra on Saturday November 17. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.