By Zach DeMarcus
January 31, 2019
 
(ROCKLIN, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (13-6, 7-4 GSAC) squeaked out a huge road victory over #18 William Jessup (16-7, 7-4 GSAC) this evening by a score of 75-74. Olisa Nwachie led Westmont with 24 points including a made free throw with 5.7 seconds remaining in the game to give Westmont their game-winning point.
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "Good road win by the Warriors. I think the game ball needs to go to Coach Azain for his gutsy calls late in the game by pressing and going to a zone trap that really caused them some problems."
 
William Jessup was up 8-6 with 17:07 remaining in the first half and Westmont went on an 11-0 run over the next five minutes to go up 17-8. Kyle Scalmanini converted on a layup, Nwachie hit two free throws, Maxwell Hudgins hit a layup. Nwachie finished the run with a layup, made jumper, and a free throw.
 
Westmont led by 10 with 3:48 remaining in the first half, but Jessup closed the half on a 12-2 run to knot the game at 34 a piece at halftime. Antonio Lewis led the way for Jessup as he scored 23 points and grabbed eight boards on the night.
 
Matt Ramon guarded Keith Phillips, who is averaging 21.1 points per game, and held him to 14 on the evening. Moore noted, "Matt guarded the toughest guy in the league and held him to seven points below his average. Keith Phillips is a really special player and Matt Ramon caused him a lot of problems tonight."
 
Both teams were unwilling to budge the entire second half. Neither team led by more than five points. The game was tied on 10 separate occasions and experienced 14 lead changes. Westmont shot 60.8 percent (31 of 51) from the floor and held Jessup to a 43.1 percent (28 of 65) clip from the floor.
 
Jessup tossed up 14 more shots than the Warriors, that was in large part due to the 14 offensive rebounds Jessup grabbed. "We knew that was an important piece. Here's a team that averages 14 offensive rebounds a game. It was a game in which we survived," commented Moore.
 
Westmont did shoot 75 percent (six of eight) beyond the 3-point line in the second half. Gyse Hulsebosh was a perfect three of three from beyond the arc in the second half and Hudgins was three of four in the half. "Gyse Hulsebosh was really special tonight. He and Max both were. We shot 75 percent from the 3-point line from the second half. Gyse and Max both made three apiece. That's exactly what we needed.
 
"Gyse hasn't had a lot of playing time. In a really important game, he found a way to hit big shots that we needed him to make. That was special," noted Moore.
 
With the game tied 74-74 with 2:21 left, scoring came to a halt. Both teams struggled to hold on to the ball and neither would hit a field goal for the remainder of the game. Westmont turned the ball over with 37 seconds to play. Jessup missed a jumper and grabbed the offensive board with 21 seconds left.
 
As both teams came back to the floor after a timeout, Jessup inbounded the ball into a Westmont zone-trap defense. Desean Scott sprinted to assist Hulsebosh in trapping a Jessup player by the side line. Jessup stepped out of bounds and turned the ball over to Westmont.
 
Westmont's Scalmanini drove to the baseline and dished the ball to Nwachie who was fouled on the way up and would narrowly miss the layup with 5.7 seconds remaining. Nwachie missed his first free throw, but gathered himself and buried the second to put Westmont up by one.
 
Jessup broke the Westmont press and had an open look at three to win the game, but would come up short leaving Westmont with the 75-74 victory. Moore said, "Olisa made the hardest free throw to make which is the second one and ended up winning the game on a night when he played, offensively, as well as he's played for quite some time."
 
It was a crazy night across the GSAC. #24 Arizona Christian (18-5, 6-5 GSAC) defeated #4 Vanguard (20-2, 8-2 GSAC) 94-86. Menlo (9-11, 5-6 GSAC) defeated #7 The Master's (19-4, 8-3 GSAC) 93-81. San Diego Christian (7-12, 3-7 GSAC) defeated OUAZ (Ariz.) (3-17, 1-10 GSAC) 85-83. Hope International (16-6, 7-4 GSAC) took down Life Pacific (8-11, 2-8 GSAC) 73-42.
 
With seven conference games left to play, this puts Vanguard in first by a game ahead of The Master's. There is a three-way tie between Hope International, Westmont, and William Jessup for third place – all three are a game behind The Master's. While Arizona Christian rounds out the top six.
 
"I think that's the way it will be for the remainder of the (conference) stretch. I think Menlo is a very good team that is playing their best brand of basketball," finished Moore.
 
Westmont will stay on the road to face Menlo this Saturday with tipoff scheduled for 4:00 p.m.