By Tim Heiduk
January 23, 2020
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The #4 Westmont men's basketball team (18-2 overall, 7-1 GSAC) rebounded from its first conference loss with an 84-78 victory over #18 Hope International (14-6, 3-5) on Thursday night inside Murchison Gymnasium.
 
"It was a very important win to get our confidence and connectedness back under us," said Westmont head coach John Moore, who picked up his 550th win at the helm of the Warriors.
 
Westmont lost on Saturday against #7 The Master's, who were on a two-game losing streak. The Warriors were in danger of losing to another ranked opponent on a two-game skid when the team squandered a 10-point first half lead against Hope International and were tied heading into halftime.
 
But Westmont regained its offensive mojo in the second half, hitting eight 3-pointers on 14 attempts (57.1%) in the second period to help the Warriors avoid a second consecutive defeat.
 
"Our coaching staff made adjustments at halftime to be able to combat what they did defensively," Moore said. "They put together a game plan defensively that was much different than what we've seen all season long on tape.
 
"Abram Carrasco was really special out there with what we needed to do to attack the rim. We went away from our Princeton stuff a little bit and put Bram in ball screen situations, where he was able to kick it out to open shooters."
 
Carrasco and Cade Roth each scored 22 points to lead all scorers, scoring 13 and 15 points respectively in the second half.
 
"Cade Roth was very special tonight, in the second half in particular," Moore said. "Bram (Carrasco) was quite good in the second half as well."
 
Justin Bessard recorded a double-double with his 18 points and 12 rebounds. Bessard was a big reason Westmont won the rebounding battle, 37 to 32, with Hope International, who entered the game with the highest rebounding margin (+14.5) in the NAIA.
 
"We got clobbered on the boards in our last game," Moore said. "One of our goals was to try and outrebound Hope International, the number one rebounding team in the nation. We were fortunate enough to do that tonight. A lot of guys get credit for that, but JB (Bessard) being one, doing a nice job of picking up those defensive boards that we needed.
 
"Hunter Sipe is just such a good, all-around basketball player. He makes so many things happen that are unnoticed on the defensive end with his communication."
 
Sipe tallied 11 points and Jared Brown added eight, as Westmont's starting five scored all but three of the Warriors' points.
 
"We limited our minutes for our bench," Moore said. "Bram had 39, Hunter and JB had 40. Cade and Jared Brown played 28. There were not a lot of leftover minutes for our subs.
 
"Our guys were really Warriors, coming off a very tough loss on Saturday night. They were excited to get back on the court. They were chomping at the bit and so was I."
 
After being limited to 34 points in the first half, the Warriors scored half that amount in less than five minutes of the second half. Selfless ball movement allowed Bessard and Brown to hit back-to-back triples, before Sipe's three pushed Westmont's advantage to 10, 54-44.
 
Carrasco's layup got the Warriors' lead up to 12, before Roth hit consecutive 3-pointers to give Westmont its largest advantage of the game, 74-58, with 6:32 left in regulation.
 
With the help of some inefficient free throw shooting from Westmont, Hope International got back to within three with 10.3 seconds remaining. Carrasco hit one of two free throws to make it a two-possession game. The Royals pushed the pace on the other end but Roth blocked a desperation three with the clock winding down, thwarting any possible comeback attempt.
 
Sipe was then fouled and sank both free throws to put the game to bed and ensure the Warriors found themselves back in the win column.
 
Westmont remains atop the GSAC standings with its 7-1 conference record, one game ahead of The Master's (16-3, 6-2) and William Jessup (14-6, 6-2). The Warriors hit the road on Saturday to take on San Diego Christian (5-10, 1-7) at 7:30 p.m. before returning home for five straight games.