By Tim Heiduk
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont men's basketball will no longer play against La Sierra on Wednesday night after the Riverside-based university suspended all athletics in response to a surge of COVID-19 cases in Riverside County.

According to NBC Los Angeles, Riverside County announced 10,949 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. This number is in part the result of a testing backlog, but is a sharp increase from recent days.

To put the number of new cases into perspective, NBC Los Angeles reported that Los Angeles County, which has a population four times the size of Riverside County, has not had a day with that many confirmed new COVID-19 cases, even on days when backlogging occurred.

This is the second game Westmont has had canceled in the past five days, after the Warriors had their exhibition against Pacific canceled last Friday when a member of the Tigers' program tested positive for COVID-19. Westmont has had two other games, against Saint Katherine and Antelope Valley, postponed already this season.

The Warriors remain on track to host Concordia University Irvine on Friday at 6:00 p.m. No fans will be allowed inside Murchison Gymnasium due to COVID-19 protocols, but the game will be broadcast at: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/westmont/