By Jarred Davis
November 4, 2018
 
(PORTLAND, Ore.) Facing a well-respected Division I opponent in the West Coast Conference, Westmont Men's Basketball (1-0) fell to Portland 94-80 on the road in a gritty exhibition match-up Saturday night.
 
"I was really impressed with our guys, we had a lot of fight in us," said Westmont coach John Moore.
 
"I thought we played with poise, a lot of toughness and it was great to see."
 
Sophomore, Gyse Hulsebosch led all Westmont scorers with 19 points, as he converted on 5 of 10 shots from three-point distance. Olisa Nwachie and Cade Roth both added 13 points apiece, while Max Hudgins and Kyle Scalmanini both cracked digits, chipping in 12 and 10 points, respectively.
 
"[Gyse] shot it well, I thought [Olisa] shot it well in the first half, to kind of lead us at halftime," added Moore.
 
"[Kyle] Scalmanini had his best game in a long time. He was very good tonight and just played with incredible poise."
 
The Warriors ultimately shot 40 percent from behind the arc (14-35), and 45.8 percent from the field, as Westmont had a very efficient night on the offensive end.
 
However, the size of the pilots posed a challenge for the Warriors, as Portland went on to control the rebound margin (47-30), although Westmont was still able to hold the Pilots to 35 percent shooting from distance.
 
"You never like giving up 94 points in the game, but they did get to the free-throw line quite a bit," said Moore.
 
"Overall, I think our defense is improving, we have to get stops, we had great opportunities but just had trouble on the boards."
 
Up next, the Warriors will tip-off the regular season on Tuesday when they host Bethesda at 7:30 as part of a men's and women's doubleheader, as the women will tip-off at 5:30 against California Lutheran.
 
"I think we learned a lot about what we're capable of," added Moore on his team's performances in Portland.
 
"We're a very well rounded team. I think this trip was great for us."