By Zach DeMarcus
January 19, 2019

(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (10-6, 4-4 GSAC) used another double-double performance from senior Olisa Nwachie to defeat the Hawks of San Diego Christian by a score of 91-82. Nwachie finished with 29 points and 11 rebounds. Jordan Spaschak had 15 points to go along with nine assists.
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "It was Olisa Nwachie's night. He was our captain tonight and he really came to play. I loved his energy. He played 37 minutes. We couldn't take him off the floor – he's just so valuable."
 
Moore added, "I thought Jordan Spaschak was really good – defensively and offensively. He was defending one of their key players. He and Olisa were the two best leaders on the floor."
 
The Warriors led for all but three minutes in this evening's game. San Diego Christian was up early 11-9 in the opening three and a half minutes. Over the next minute and forty seconds, Westmont went on a 9-0 run to take the lead and never looked back.
 
Cade Roth hit a jumper, Kyle Scalmanini converted on an and-one layup, Spaschak finished a layup, and Nwachie finished the run with two free throws – bringing the score to 18-11 with 14:52 to go in the first half. The Hawks had no answer for Nwachie who finished nine of 13 from the floor and 11 of 12 from the free throw line.
 
The Warriors took a commanding 16-point lead into halftime with the score in their favor at 49-33.
 
After a made layup by Scalmanini to open the second half, Westmont led by their largest margin of 18 points. Scalmanini finished with 17 points and four rebounds.
 
San Diego Christian's Tristan Angelo led all scorers with 36 points. Angelo was 13 of 21 from the field including three of six from beyond the arc. "We didn't have an answer for Angelo. He had a career night," noted Moore.
 
The Warriors held the Hawks' leading scorer Derek Novsek to just two of nine from the field in the first half and nine points. Novsek found his way to the free throw line in the second half and ended the night 13 of 15 from the line and five of 16 from the field for 25 points – he also grabbed 10 rebounds.
 
"I liked the way we defended Novsek in the first half. I thought defensively we lost him quite a bit in the second half. He's probably one of the best free throw shooters in the nation. I thought we did a nice job beside fouling him a little too much," commented Moore.
 
The Warriors saw their 18-point lead diminish to eight points from 19:18 remaining in the game to 17:13 left to play. The Hawks went on a quick 12-2 run with nine points coming from the hot-hand of Angelo and three coming from Novsek at the charity strike.
 
Westmont would regain their 18-point advantage with 6:16 left to play and were leading by 16 with 3:31 remaining. The Hawks would not go down without a fight and promptly flew on a 9-0 run to come within seven of the Warriors with a minute remaining. Westmont was able to put San Diego Christian away by converting their last 10 points at the free throw line – bringing the final score to 91-82.
 
"I liked the execution offensively, especially in the first half when we were shooting close to 60 percent from the field. I thought we did a really nice job of taking care of the ball. We only had six turnovers. In the second half, I think the turnover bug got back to us," noted Moore.
 
The Warriors are now 7-0 at home on the season. Moore mentioned of the win, "It's a confidence boost. I thought our guys played with great energy. We had an excellent team meeting yesterday to prepare for this game. I think our guys bought into a lot of the things that our older guys said and a lot of the things our coaching staff said. I was impressed with how Olisa and Jordan in particular owned what we shared as a team."
 
The Warriors will remain at home next week and play host to Golden State Athletic Conference newcomer OUAZ (Ariz.) on Thursday and Arizona Christian on Saturday. Thursday's contest tips off at 7:30 p.m. with Saturday's slated for a 3:00 p.m. start.