By Zach DeMarcus
January 17, 2019
 
(FULLERTON, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (9-6, 3-4 GSAC) fell on the road to the Royals of Hope International (15-3, 6-1 GSAC) this evening by a score of 69-62. Kyle Scalmanini had 14 points to go along with three assists on the night for the Warriors while Olisa Nwachie tallied a double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds).
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "We played hard. What a different between last Saturday's game and this game. I thought we came a long way. We couldn't get a couple breaks on the boards and couldn't get to the free throw line a little more. We're a team that gets to the free throw line a lot and got to the free throw line only eight times tonight (below their season average of 17.2) – that makes it challenging."
 
The Warriors played well in the first half. With the score at 15-15 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half, Nwachie hit two free throws that would put the Warriors up for the remainder of the half. They would go up by as many as six in the half and went into halftime with the score in their favor at 31-25.
 
"I liked the way Olisa rebounded and Kyle Scalmanini helped to start the game," noted Moore.
 
The Warriors struggled to take care of the ball well in the second half. They went on to commit nine turnovers in the half – leading to 12 points for the Royals.
 
"Turnovers got us again. We did a nice job of taking care of the ball and executed really well defensively and offensively in the first half, then we allowed the turnover bug to take over. We had nine turnovers in the second half – they were costly," commented Moore.
 
The Royals outrebounded the Warriors 41-31, but were less sharp from the 3-point line going just one for 16. The Warriors shot 10 of 27 from beyond the arc.
 
With the score tied at 38-38 with 12:49 remaining to play, Hope took the lead for good after a made layup from Josh Powell-Davis. The Royals would go up by as many as nine before coming away with the seven-point 69-62 victory.
 
Davis finished with a double-double of his own for Hope with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Toles led all scorers with 23 points.
 
"I thought we were pretty special for the most part. I thought we did a nice job competing. We were in it and we never gave up. Hope's a very good team. They're all guys who have been around basketball for a long time," noted Moore. "We missed some shots that we normally make."
 
The Warriors will now return to Murchison for a three-game home stand beginning this Saturday against San Diego Christian. "It's a great opportunity to get back home for a few games," finished Moore. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.