By Jacob Norling
January 22, 2022
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Nate Meithof scored a season-high 30 points, and the Warriors made 29 of 34 free throws, but ultimately, Westmont (12-8, 3-8 GSAC) let one slip away to Arizona Christian (20-3, 8-3) by a score of 82-80.
 
The Warriors led by 12 with 12:20 left in the second half, but were outscored 32-18 down the stretch as they dropped their eighth conference game of the season.
 
Along with Meithof's 30, Cly Griffith Jr. shined in his second game as a Warrior as he added 24 points off the bench. Outside of Meithof and Griffith however, only one Warrior scored more than seven points (Jared Brown, 12) as collectively the Warriors shot just 36.8% from the field (21-57).
 
"Luckily we got to the line a lot, because we didn't shoot that well from the field," said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "It's difficult with Cade, our playmaker, out right now. Nate and Cly were able to create for themselves a lot, but right now we're missing the ability to create for others.
 
"With that, Nate and Cly made a ton of great passes, but we were unable to convert on open shots and especially on open threes."
 
The first half started eerily similar to Thursday's game against OUAZ, where the Warriors founded themselves trailing by 12 early. On this occasion, the task was even taller, as Arizona Christian jumped out to a 20-6 lead in the first seven minutes of play.
 
Sebastian Reynoso drilled a 3-pointer with 11:08 to play in the first, and sparked a 30-10 run over the next six minutes that saw the club tie it at 30 and eventually lead 36-30. Meithof scored eight unanswered points following Reynoso's three, and ultimately scored 11 points during the stretch that Westmont clawed back into the game.
 
Griffith capped off the first-half surge with a jumper and a 3-pointer to stretch Westmont's lead to six. At halftime, the club led 40-36 after hitting six 3-pointers and converting eight of nine shots from the free-throw line.
 
The Warriors opened up the second half with a 10-4 run to stretch their lead to double-digits. Eventually, three consecutive free-throws from Meithof stretched the Westmont lead to 60-48. After a jumper from ACU cut the deficit back to 10, a jumper from Griffith built Westmont's lead back to 62-50 with 12:32 to play.
 
From there, the lead began to shrink.
 
Down the stretch, Westmont went cold offensively, making just eight of 29 field goal attempts and three of 13 three-point attempts in the second half. Fortunately for Westmont, however, they continued receiving favorable whistles and shot 25 free throws in the second half.
 
The Warriors made 21 of the 25 shots from the charity stripe, led by Meithof who made 10 of 11 in the second half, and 14 of 16 overall.
 
The Firestorm received just 18 free throws themselves, but ultimately, it was three costly free throws that capped off their game-changing run.
 
Following the 12 point deficit, ACU chipped away, first getting within nine, then seven, and then five with 9:35 remaining. Westmont held the visitors at bay for a few minutes, then finally saw the contest turn into a one-possession game with 5:47 remaining.
 
Westmont's attempt to fend off the Firestorm was successful until the final minute of action, when Nate Meithof fouled Angelo Johnson on a three-point attempt with 47 seconds to play. Johnson converted all three shots, and Arizona Christian led 80-79 for the first time since the five-minute mark in the first half.
 
With 20 seconds remaining, Griffith had a pair of free throws, and a chance to put Westmont back on top. However, the junior guard split the free throws, and in an 80-80 tie, Arizona Christian held for a shot in the final seconds.
 
"I felt good about the look that Cly had driving in," said Boucher. "He almost converted the and-one and then just missed the front end of the two free throws."
 
Johnson, who scored a team-high 26 points for the Firestorm, converted a layup with 1.4 seconds remaining to put his club ahead for good. 
 
"It came down to a defensive breakdown," noted Boucher. "Angelo was just able to buzz by for the layup.
 
Westmont was unable to get a shot off as time expired.
 
"Going forward, we're going to spend a lot of time just working on late-game situations," reflected Boucher. "Offensively, we are phenomenal in the middle of games, but our start and finish is our weakness. From the last 10 minutes of the first half, to the first 15 minutes of the second, we're stellar. 
 
"We need to continue to find our identity in tough situations because this won't be the last close game we play in, with our next one probably coming next Saturday."
 
Next Saturday, Westmont will travel to Santa Clarita to take on The Master's at 7:30 p.m.