By Ron Smith
November 19, 2019
 
(LOS ANGELES) Westmont Men's Basketball trailed Occidental by as many as 13 points in the second half, but the Warriors rallied to record a 72-68 victory and improve their record to 6-0.
 
"We got a little rattled there in the first half," acknowledged head coach John Moore. "I thought Oxy played a tremendous game offensively with great execution. Then, they took a lot away from us defensively, especially in the first half."
 
The Tigers jumped out to 9-2 lead before the Warriors got things going offensively courtesy of a lay-up and a three-pointer by Hunter Sipe on back-to-back possessions. Sipe would end up with a team-high 20 points and seven rebounds for the Warriors.
 
"As good as Hunter was offensively, you should have seen all the things he did defensively," pointed out Moore.
 
Westmont was able to rally and take a 16-15 lead when Sipe nailed a 3-point shot midway through the first half. However, the Warriors had trouble stopping the Tiger's offense and one minute later surrendered the lead (17-16) on a tip-in by Occidental's Evan Dray (7 points, 5 rebounds).
 
Westmont recaptured the lead (25-22) on a long-range shot by Cade Roth (10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists) with 3:21 remaining in the opening frame, but yielded it soon afterward on back-to-back threes by Kyle Dosa (14 points, 3 rebounds) and Gray Davidson. Another three by Cale Yellin-Flaherty (26 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals) resulted in a 33-27 halftime advantage by the Tigers.
 
A little more than five minutes into the second half, Occidental took its largest lead (46-33) on a jumper by Dosa. Over the next two minutes, Westmont began the turnaround with a 6-0 run that included two free throws and a jumper by Cade Roth (10 points, 6 rebounds) as well as a jumper by Abram Carrasco (11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists).
 
"I thought our guys rallied and took the challenge in the second half," said Moore. "We did a nice job of staying poised."
 
Also in the second half, the Warriors made a defensive adjustment.
 
"(Assistant Coach) Jeff Azain deserves the credit for that," noted Moore. "We decided that we needed to face guard their two best players and that seemed to work better and we were able to cut into the lead."
 
With 2:52 left in the contest, Yellin-Flaherty hit another three, putting Occidental up by eight (65-57). After a pair of free throws by Justin Bessard (11 points, 5 rebounds), Sipe drained a three with 1:56 to play, pulling the Warriors within three at 65-62.
 
On the ensuing Tiger possession, "Noah Fernando got a really important steal and fed it to Hunter Sipe for a layup," noted Moore. That made it a one-point game with the Warriors trailing 65-64.
 
After a 3-point miss by the Tigers, Sipe knocked down his fourth three-pointer of the game to give the Warriors a 67-65 lead with 45 seconds remaining.
 
"Hunter didn't get off the floor. He played 40 minutes," reported Moore. "After 40 minutes of guarding their best player, you should be fatigued, but he made a big three when the shot clock was running down late in the game."
 
The rest of the Warriors' scoring would come from the charity stripe.
 
"We were 17 of 22 from the free throw line," said Moore. "There were a lot of points to be had at the free throw line and we were able to take advantage of them."
 
The Warriors led by two (68-66) with 24 second showing on the clock and Occidental bringing the ball down the court.
 
"When we had the two-point lead, they throw the ball out of bounds because of the pressure that Noah was exerting on their passer," said Moore. "It was neat to see a freshman come to the forefront like he did."
 
With nine seconds left, Gyse Hulsebosch (8 points, 3 rebounds) connected on two free throws to put Westmont on top 70-66. After the Tigers responded with two free throws of their own, Carrasco was fouled with less than two seconds remaining and awarded two free throw attempts.
 
"Bram made those big free throws late that sealed the game, so we didn't have to defend the 3-point line," said Moore. "Those two free throws were clutch."
 
Next up for the Warriors is a home game on Friday when the Warriors will host the Bengals of Maine Fort Kent. The game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. following two women's basketball games that are part of the Best Western Plus Carpinteria Inn Classic. The women's games, which feature four top-ten teams, will be played at 4:00 and 6:00 p.m.