By Tim Heiduk
December 20, 2020
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont men's basketball (0-1) started fast, but could not contain Pacific (3-1) on the glass, as the Tigers raced past the Warriors, 92-64, in Murchison Gymnasium on Sunday night. Pacific won the rebounding battle 57-29 against Westmont, who counted the game counted as an exhibition.
 
"I thought they made good adjustments to what we were getting, but they're a tough team to play," Westmont head coach Landon Boucher said. "They slow it down and they're also bigger, so we had a hard time speeding the game up, especially when we got down. They're really good at playing their pace and I thought that they really took advantage of their height difference."
 
A 3-pointer by Cade Roth got Westmont on the board, before the Warriors took an early 11-6 lead six-and-a-half minutes into the game against its NCAA Division I opposition.
 
"I liked initially how we got what we wanted on offense by running our stuff at our pace," Boucher said. "I thought that we were unselfish and found baskets by the way that we want to play."
 
However, Roth's 3-pointer was one of only eight Westmont made on 36 attempts (22.2%) throughout the game. The Tigers limited the Warriors to 33.3% shooting overall, as Boucher said Pacific's strength wore Westmont down physically, which affected its shooting.
 
"I think in all three of these games, we haven't shot well from the 3-point line because we're playing against bigger competition that is pushing us around," Boucher said. "Often times that wears on you because instead of being able to gather your feet and shoot balanced, you get sped up, a little more pushed around. I think in all three games we've shot it well below what we can do."
 
Facing that early five-point deficit, the Tigers went on an 8-0 run to take a 14-11 lead, one in which they would not relinquish. Westmont kept the game within single digits throughout most of the opening frame until the final 1:23 of the first half, before Pacific beat the buzzer with a triple to take a 41-28 advantage into halftime.
 
"It's only our third game and it feels like it shouldn't be because it's late December, but in that situation we got the offensive rebound and we should have pulled it out and taken the last shot," Boucher said of the lead-up to that final play. "We decided to take a shot with 15 seconds left and then they were able to capitalize on it. I think that was a big moment in the game. Instead of going in 10 down, we were down 13."
 
That shot sparked momentum for the Tigers going into the second half, who opened the final stanza with nine consecutive points to take a 20-point lead at the 17:18 mark. The teams traded baskets until the midway point of the second half, when the Tigers began to pull away further, taking a game-high lead of 32 with 3:05 remaining.
 
Tristan Lloyd, who made two shots from behind the arc in the first half, converted a layup with a minute to play to get the Warriors within 28, their final margin of deficit.
 
A disappointing night almost turned worse when reigning Golden State Athletic Conference Player of the Year Abram Carrasco went down after an awkward fall in the second half, but fortunately for the Warriors he was able to return to the game.
 
Senior transfer Ajay Singh was a bright spot for Westmont in the second half, as he scored all 12 of his points after the break to lead all Warriors' scorers. Carrasco was the only other Westmont player to score in double figures for the game, tallying 11, eight of which came in the opening period.
 
Westmont and Pacific were initially scheduled to play in Stockton on Dec. 4, but that game was canceled just hours before tip-off after a positive COVID-19 test within the Tigers' program. The two teams then rescheduled to play in Santa Barbara 16 days later.
 
Sunday marked the first time Westmont men's basketball hosted an NCAA Division I opponent since Jan. 27, 1972, when the Warriors overcame a 16-point deficit to defeat #14 Hawaii, 90-89. That game was played the night after legendary head coach Tom Byron passed away after a battle with terminal cancer.
 
The Warriors will now go home for Christmas before returning to campus in early January. The team's next scheduled game is its GSAC opener on Jan. 23 at Hope International, but Westmont will look to play in nonconference action before that.