By Tim Heiduk
October 21, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Westmont men's basketball team scored immediately off the opening tip and led from start to finish in its season-opening 102-73 victory over Corban (Ore.) inside Murchison Gymnasium on Monday night.
 
"It feels like we had a knock-it-out of the park offensive game, but really it was our defense that created so much of our offense," said Westmont head coach John Moore. "Credit to our team defense tonight. That's what made the game the type of game it was."
 
After Westmont controlled the opening tip, Cade Roth immediately found a streaking Hunter Sipe, who laid it in to give the Warriors a lead just four seconds into the game. Sipe scored the next four Warrior points as well, as Westmont raced out to an 8-0 lead.
 
"Hunter set the tone offensively and we just wanted to be aggressive, both offensively and defensively," said Moore. "I thought, aside from varied shot selection, our offense, for this early in the season, was well-tuned."
 
The Warriors' extended their early lead to 18 points with 3:37 left in the first half before taking a 50-34 advantage into the locker room.
 
Justin Bessard began the second half with a 3-pointer and scored the next four Westmont points of the second half. The Warriors continued to add to their lead, which got up to as high as 35, before winning by 29.
 
Roth led all players and set career highs with 22 points and six assists. The sophomore forward also set a career high with nine rebounds.
 
"He made three 3's in a row there at one point," said Moore. "He set the tone rebounding wise. He had nine rebounds, which is the most he's ever had in a Warrior uniform."
 
Roth just missed out on a double-double, but his teammate Bessard didn't, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds in his Westmont debut.
 
"It was a challenge we gave to JB, to be a double-digit rebounder for us every game," said Moore. "He started off well."
 
Westmont shot 50% from the field, including 44.4% (16-36) from 3-point range. Once again, Moore credited his team's defense for its efficient night offensively, which had 26 assists on 39 made field goals.
 
"So many of those were easy baskets because of what our defense did," said Moore. "Even the ones when we didn't create a turnover above the free-throw line or when we got rebounds and had to make two or three passes, those also led to very easy shots."
 
In particular, Moore highlighted the defensive play of Jared Brown and Sipe. Sipe led the team with three steals.
 
"You wouldn't think this, but Jared Brown, even though he got those two early fouls, set the tone on AJ Hodges on how aggressively we were going to play against him," said Moore. "That won't go in the scorebook or anything, but that really set our defensive tone.
 
"Hunter Sipe is such a good communicator and makes up for other people's mistakes. It's like he's three people out there on the floor. I think he was very good defensively."
 
Abram Carrasco was the third Westmont starter to score double-digit points, adding 13 of his own. The other three Warriors who scored in double figures came off the bench. Leading the team's second unit was Gyse Hulsebosch with 13 points, followed by Tristan Lloyd with 12 and Noah Fernando with 10.
 
"Noah's going to be an outstanding energy guy for us, as is Gyse coming off the bench for us right now," said Moore. "I thought Tristan Lloyd had a very special night for us. We needed Tristan to be a returner out there and he played like a seasoned veteran, just like Cade and Gyse did."
 
The Warriors outrebounded Corban 47-36, including a 15-8 advantage in offensive rebounds, which led to a 24-9 differential in second chance points. The team only committed eight turnovers on the night and converted 13 Corban giveaways into a 26-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
 
Westmont (1-0) returns to action next Monday night against Bethesda. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
 
"I think shot-selection is the main thing," said Moore on what he wants his team to improve upon before its next game. "I think we hurried things up a little bit on that end, but I liked the way we shared the ball. I liked when we went to a slower offense. We were a little more patient and it made a big difference."