By Jacob Norling
November 5, 2021
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) On a night where it came down to the last shot, Westmont (2-0) ultimately prevailed 67-66 over the visiting Southern Oregon Raiders (0-1). While the Warriors committed 22 turnovers, the club rode a hot stretch late in the second half, and came up with key defensive stops to claim victory right at the buzzer.
 
"If you would have told me earlier today that we were going to win with 22 turnovers, I'd have thought you were crazy," quipped Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "I anticipated a high-scoring game on both ends, but it turned into a game decided by defensive grit. It was encouraging for us to see that we could win when our offense doesn't have its best game."
 
With 9:26 left in the first half, a layup put Southern Oregon up 22-20 for their first lead of the night. Then, Jared Brown immediately answered for Westmont, sinking a 3-pointer on the next possession to reclaim the lead.
 
When the Raiders' called timeout with 5:33 left in the period, the Warriors were still clinging on to a 31-29 advantage. Then, the Raiders woke up offensively as the Warriors had still yet to find their stride, and Southern Oregon finished the half on an 11-5 run to take a 40-36 lead into intermission.
 
At the half, the Warriors were out-rebounding the Raiders 21-16, but turnovers mixed with the club's inability to shoot from three-point range led to them heading into the locker room trailing. Southern Oregon had only made five of 16 shots from downtown, but Westmont had only sunk two of 10 themselves, while also committing 11 turnovers compared to Southern Oregon's seven.
 
Brown was the lone Warrior to thrive offensively during the first period, as the junior guard was a perfect six for six from the field with a game-high 17 points.
 
With 13:30 left to play, Westmont had yet to make a dent in the Raiders' lead, and trailed 52-47. Then, a layup from Jalen Townsell followed by a free throw from Nate Meithof pulled the club within a pair, and the Raiders called timeout while still holding onto a 52-50 advantage.
 
With the first possession out of the timeout, Brown continued to put the Warriors on his back as he sank a three to reclaim the lead, while also waking up the Murchison Gym crowd. Then, after the Raiders took a 57-53 lead with 9:42 to play, Brown hit another shot from beyond the arc to pull Westmont back within one.
 
Brown was the only Warrior to make a 3-pointer all night.
 
"Jared played with a ton of passion tonight," said Boucher. "I was proud of the effort he showed and it was key for him to be rolling early. He was able to get inside and get some easy points, and you can see on the stat sheet that he was taking smart shots. Getting some early shots to fall for Jared led to him having the momentum and confidence to hit some more difficult shots late in the game."
 
With 8:42 to play, senior Tyler Austin converted a layup for the eighth lead change of the contest, and roared his way back to the bench as Westmont held a 58-57 advantage going into a timeout.
 
"Tyler was huge tonight," offered Boucher. "He was one of the guys I pointed out in the locker room after the game. He was a game-changer tonight and you'd have never known just by looking at the box score. His defense, his rim protection, and the energy he brought off the bench was huge."
 
After the timeout, Westmont played their best basketball of the night. After Ajay Singh converted a pair of free throws, Cade Roth assisted a pair of Warriors in identical fashion on back-to-back possessions after back-to-back defensive stops.
 
With Roth at the top of the key, both Austin and Singh darted under the basketball with a pass from Roth waiting for them, and both men converted to give the Warriors a 64-57 lead with 6:45 remaining.
 
"The game was really won in that stretch when we went up seven," noted Boucher. "The defensive stops were huge, and then all of our points were off assisted baskets. We pride our team on getting points off assists, and we didn't have as many as we wanted tonight, but we got them when we needed it most down the stretch."
 
With 3:45 remaining, the Warriors led 64-60, but had squandered a handful of opportunities to pad their lead after committing their 18th, 19th, and 20th turnovers of the night.
 
Fortunately, the Westmont defense stood tall while the offense searched for the dagger. Roth's first block of the night led to a quick layup by Jalen Townsell to stretch the lead to six, and the Raiders didn't get back within four until less than two minutes remained in the game.
 
With a 67-63 advantage, and 50.1 seconds remaining, the Raiders sank a three to pull within one. Then, the Warriors' 22nd turnover of the night gave the Raiders possession with less than 30 seconds remaining.
 
With everyone in Murchison Gym holding their breath, the Warriors defense refused to surrender the lead. With eight seconds to play, Roth collected his second block of the game, but the Raiders retained possession. Then, Southern Oregon threw up a desperation three at the buzzer, one that was heavily contested by Townsell, and the ball clanked off the back of the rim as time expired.
 
Everyone in Westmont gear, including the men in uniform, erupted as the horn sounded, and Westmont successfully held off the Raiders by a final score of 67-66.
 
"I was super proud of our team at the end of this game," said Boucher. "There were some calls that we didn't feel like went our way and then Jared went down with cramps in the final minute. The temptation was to worry about the calls and yell at the refs, but instead we huddled up and talked about getting a single stop to win the game. Ultimately, we did just that.
 
"That's a team over there that's averaged 90 points and 20 assists the last couple years with a majority of the same roster. Tonight, with our offense not putting it together, we found a way to hold them at bay and come out with a win."
 
Brown led all scorers with 26 points as he shot nine of 10 from the field, while Meithof was the other lone Warrior to score in double digits with 10. Roth led the club in assists with seven, while Meithof and Singh both led the club with six rebounds apiece.
 
The club returns to the court tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. when they host Westcliff in Murchison Gym. Tickets are available on the Westmont Athletics website.