By Tim Heiduk
February 12, 2020
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Westmont men's basketball team (24-2 overall, 13-1 GSAC), ranked fourth in the NAIA, overcame a slow start against Life Pacific (6-17, 2-11) on Tuesday night to complete an undefeated five-game home stand with a 93-70 victory, its seventh straight win overall.
 
The Warriors trailed by as many as eight points in the early going. Westmont head coach John Moore attributed the slow start in part to the absence of Cade Roth, who missed the game because of an injury suffered in the Warriors' win over Menlo on Saturday afternoon.
 
"It felt a little bumpy without Cade to start the game," Moore said. "We can't not talk about that. We need to talk about that. That was no fault of the other five guys who were starting the game, but it just felt a little bit different without Cade out there. He does so many things for us."
 
With the Warriors down 9-15, Abram Carrasco scored 10 points in a 16-0 Westmont run to help the GSAC leaders take their first double-digit lead of the game, 25-15.
 
Westmont led by as many as 19 points in the first half before taking a 15-point advantage into the locker room, 49-34.
 
Moore credited the play of Gyse Hulsebosch, who scored all 11 of his points in the first half on three for five shooting from 3-point range, in helping the Warriors extend their lead in the opening period.
 
"I thought Gyse was fantastic in the first half," Moore said. "Gyse Hulsebosch is so capable as a guy coming off the bench. He hits deep threes and we finally found him. I said to the guys at halftime, I felt like for the first part that Gyse was in there, we were keeping the ball out of his hands, but once we found him it was like the flood gates opened. We surged ahead by a much bigger margin at that point."
 
After Life Pacific opened up the second half with two made free throws, Westmont went on a 13-0 run to take a 62-36 lead, aided by its transition to a zone defense.
 
"I thought our zone was very good in the second half," Moore said. "I think they went six or eight straight possessions without scoring against the zone."
 
The Warriors extended their advantage to a game-high 35 points with 3:28 remaining in regulation before settling for a 23-point victory.
 
Moore appreciated his team's improved rebounding in the second half.
 
"I just think defensively and rebounding wise we weren't very good in the early part of the game," Moore said. "Rebounding wise we weren't very good in the first half at all, but in the second half we rebounded much better. We outrebounded them by six rebounds in the second half."
 
Overall, the team recorded 21 assists on 31 made baskets. The Warriors outscored their opponents 32-7 in points off turnovers after committing nine fewer giveaways. Westmont also held a 28-14 advantage in points in the paint.
 
"Once we established the low post, I thought Justin Bessard was very patient," Moore said. "He used his quickness well, got guys off him. He had a very nice left-handed layup in the second half. I thought we looked for him a lot more and found him in the right place."
 
Bessard (16 points) was one of five Warriors to score in double figures. Carrasco led the way once again with 23 points, while Hunter Sipe (15 points), Hulsebosch (11 points) and Jared Brown (10 points) also reached double digits.
 
"Hunter Sipe is just so consistent," Moore said of his junior transfer, who led the team with seven rebounds. "We rely so much on him."
 
The Warriors, who have four games remaining in the GSAC regular season, now hold a three-and-a-half game lead over Arizona Christian (19-6, 9-4) and Menlo (15-7, 9-4), who both have five games left to play.
 
Westmont will look to clinch at least a share of the conference regular season championship with a win at Vanguard on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
 
"Vanguard's a tough place to play, so we're just thinking about that," Moore said. "They're vying with Hope International for that sixth spot [in the GSAC] right now, so they have plenty to play for. They are extremely talented and hard to play against at 'The Pit.' We're looking to play a little better than we did tonight at the start of the game. We've had three straight games where we haven't started well.
 
"We haven't been on the road for a while. This team has been the road Warriors. We've won every conference game on the road. We'll go in with great anticipation and hunger."