By Zach DeMarcus                                                                                                              
January 5, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Sophomore guard Kyle Scalmanini and junior guard Jordan Spaschak each had 20 points this afternoon as they led Westmont Men's Basketball (9-4, 3-2 GSAC) past #25 William Jessup (11-5, 2-2 GSAC) by a score of 84-82.
 
Westmont head coach John Moore said, "I thought we played tough, hard-nosed basketball. Games like this are won on the defensive end and we had some really big defensive stops at important times."
 
Westmont held the Golden State Athletic Conference's leading scorer Keith Phillips to just 10 points. He was averaging 21.9 points per game heading into today's matchup. "I think they have a guy who's a player of the year candidate in Keith Phillips. Tristan Lloyd and Matt Ramon deserve a lot of the credit for how well we did against Phillips. I thought Matt Ramon set a great tone and Tristan came in and played with super energy," noted Moore.
 
Westmont held Jessup to a 42.4 shooting percentage (28 of 66) from the field while shooting 54.1 percent (33 of 61) from the floor.
 
Westmont came out of the gate running and went up 10-2 through the first three and a half minutes of play. When asked about his transition offense Moore said, "We wanted to get the right ones in transition."
 
Jessup would go on to take a 26-24 lead with 8:31 remaining in the first half from a 3-pointer by Darrell Polee. Polee led all scorers with 21 points to go along with four steals and three assists on the afternoon.
 
With 3:39 left to play in the first half, Westmont was down 31-35. They closed out the first half on a 10-2 run. Scalmanini converted a layup and went one of two from the charity strike before stealing the ball, passing to Lloyd, who quickly moved the ball to Maxwell Hudgins who knocked down a 3-pointer.
 
Hudgins then laid the ball in on the following possession and Lloyd went two of two from the free throw line to finish the run. Antonio Lewis hit a jumper with four seconds remaining in the half to bring the score to 41-37 in favor of Westmont.
 
Westmont came out of halftime fairly sloppy as Jessup quickly stole the ball twice to tie the game at 41. Westmont did have 12 turnovers in the game, but also moved the ball for 15 assists as a team – Scalmanini led the way with five assists.
 
Scalmanini and Spaschak scored 26 of their 40 points between the two of them in the second half. They consistently attacked the rim all game. "That is the best tandem guard group that we've had all season long," commented Moore. "I thought Jordan had by far his best game – leadership wise, scoring wise, and the way he gathered the team together. I love Kyle's aggressiveness and the way he attacked the rim. Between the two of them they were 17 for 28 – (60.7 percent) is a pretty good shooting percentage."
 
Westmont had a five-point lead with a minute and six seconds remaining in the game. Tyras Rattler Jr. was fouled and hit both free throws with 42 seconds left. Jessup was pressing Westmont and Polee came up with a steal and laid the ball in to bring Jessup within one at 81-80.
 
Westmont broke the press with the ball inbounded to Spaschak. Spaschak passed from the corner to Olisa Nwachie at half court who quickly flicked the ball to Lloyd who was wide open under the rim and slammed it home to give Westmont an 83-80 advantage.
 
A missed Polee layup led to a Tate Delaveaga offensive rebound and put back with six seconds remaining to bring Jessup back within one. Westmont ran an out of bounds play to get the ball inbounded to Cade Roth who was fouled and put to the free throw line for a one-and-one bonus opportunity. Roth hit the first one and missed the second. Desean Scott grabbed the offensive board and was fouled.
 
Scott missed his free throw, but Nwachie tipped the ball to the left corner where Jessup chased the ball and was forced to quickly get to half court before heaving up a half-court shot at the buzzer that fell well short of the rim – giving Westmont the 84-82 victory.
 
Moore said, "Cade made the most important one, the first one. I thought Desean Scott's rebound was outstanding. Olisa's tip out is something that you're not going to hear much about, but to just tip it out and get the ball to the corner over there. It forced them to take a little more time and made them take a very difficult half-court shot.
 
"We won a game with Olisa on the bench for most of the game. When Olisa is on the bench for that much of the game, you need to have guys step up. Freshman Matt Schmidt scored nine points and grabbed three rebounds on 16 minutes. He defended exceptionally well. I thought Matt was very good tonight."
 
All five of Westmont's GSAC games this season have been decided with a seven-point difference or fewer. Moore said, "We are learning how to win and play with each other. Even in a game like tonight where we tossed the ball around a little too much late in the game, you still have to dig deep.
 
"Our whole approach today was to be the tougher team. William Jessup is a very tough team. They're a team that deserves to be nationally ranked. I thought our mental toughness at key times came to the fore front. I think Kyle and Jordan had a lot to do with it."
 
Westmont will have a week to prepare as they travel to Santa Clarita next Saturday to take on No. 6 ranked The Master's. "There's a reason they've been in the top-10 the last two years. They're great. They're going to be hard to play against. They like to play fast, but we can't wait to go compete down there and give it our best shot," finished Moore.