By Zach DeMarcus
January 3, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (8-4, 2-2 GSAC) survived a scalding hot first half offensive performance by the visiting Oaks of Menlo (4-8, 0-3 GSAC) and came back to win the Golden State Athletic Conference matchup by a score of 93-89. Freshman Cade Roth led Westmont with 17 points.
 
It seemed as though the Oaks were unable to miss from beyond the arc in the first half and that was due to the fact that they rarely did. Menlo went nine of 10 from 3-point range in the first half. Four of those coming off the hot hand of Charles Neal. Neal would go on to lead scorers with 24 points on the evening.
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "One of my coaches said it really well, 'when they're shooting as well as they did in the first half, it probably lit a fire under us and made us into a much better defensive team.'
 
"I thought Desean Scott was a primary guy responsible for that. We put him on Charles Neal who had a whale of a game. I thought Desean guarding him added some more length and he got a couple steals off of him. Desean can guard a lot of different positions and he did a nice job on an on fire Charles Neal tonight," added Moore.
 
Menlo went up by as many as 11 points with 11:28 remaining in the first half, but the Warriors were able to stay in stride with Menlo's offensive onslaught. The Warriors went on a 12-0 run over the next two minutes to take a one-point lead at 30-29.
 
Nine of those 12 points came from the hands of Roth who sank two threes, hit a free throw, and converted on a jumper during the two-minute stretch. Moore noted, "I thought Cade Roth was our offensive player of the first half."
 
At halftime, both teams had drained nine threes a piece and the score was in favor of the Oaks at 55-51.
 
Olisa Nwachie quickly converted on two layups to start the half to even the score at 55. Nwachie added 15 points and pulled down five boards. "Olisa was really good. If he hadn't gotten in foul trouble I think we would have had a little more of a dominant opportunity in the low post. Olisa did such a nice job of being a great teammate, even when he was off the floor. Defensively, aside from fouling, he did a really nice job of communicating effectively," added Moore.
 
Westmont stepped up defensively and held the Oaks to shoot 41.9 percent (13 of 31) from the floor in the second half – down from the 66.7 percent (22 of 33) they shot in the first.
 
The Warriors took the lead for good with 16:24 remaining from a Matt Ramon made free throw bringing the score to 60-59. Westmont went up by as many as 11 points, but the Oaks didn't go down without a fight.
 
Westmont sat comfortably with eight minutes remaining and the score at 80-69. The Oaks went on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes and 39 seconds to come within one. Scott responded with a 3-pointer to put the Warriors back up by four – Scott finished with 15 points of his own.
 
With a minute and a half remaining to play Westmont was up by eight points. Neal hit a 3-pointer with 42 seconds to play to bring the score to 90-85. John Paine connected on two free throws with 30 seconds left to make it a one-position game at 90-87.
 
Scott was fouled and went one of two from the line and Menlo's N'Jai LeBlanc connected on a layup to pull the Oaks within two at 91-89. Roth iced the game with two made free throws with one second and change on the scoreboard. Moore said, "We got Cade in when it counted and we ran an out of bounds play purposely so that he could get a chance to make some free throws at the end and he did. Those were game-winning free throws.
 
"Allen Iverson was a liar – practice is important. Cade Roth has been unbelievable in practice. He shot the lights out in practice. Tonight he shot with no hesitation what so ever. He made our game close in the first half because of how well he shot."
 
Looking ahead, Moore said, "We're getting ready for William Jessup. We can't wait to get another game under our belts. I'm looking forward to playing Jessup. I like the way they play and I like the way we played tonight."
 
Westmont will play host to William Jessup in a GSAC matchup this Saturday. The women tipoff at 1:00 p.m. and the men follow at 3:00 p.m.