By Jacob Norling
January 12, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (11-6, 4-4 GSAC) got back to .500 in GSAC play on Thursday night, after defeating the Life Pacific Warriors by a score of 80-64. In a game of runs, Westmont made the most, and the longest, ultimately pulling away late for their fourth conference win of the season.
 
"Tonight was a big positive," said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "With Life, you look at their record and they're 1-7 in league, but they've beaten Vanguard, who beat us, and almost beat Jessup as well. They've got dangerous scorers and they hit tough shots.
 
"We've said it, our motto since Utah Tech has been that we have to improve every single day. Even with as big of a bummer as the Menlo game was, we are continuously getting better in the areas we need improvement. Tonight, we got in the same situation as Menlo where we needed to get stops in the second half. The difference tonight was instead of coming apart, we stayed connected.
 
"That's a word that's been coming up in our meetings a lot. When things get tough in the second half, we need to stay connected, and tonight, we did."
 
Individually, the home-Warriors were led by Cade Roth, who led the way with a team-high 16 points. Behind Roth, Jalen Townsell and Anthony McIntyre added 12 points each, while Drew Ramirez finished with 11 to give the club four scorers in double-figures.
 
"Cade did a really good job tonight," began Boucher, "and the points are there, but it's really about what you wouldn't see in the box score. Tonight, he was organizing us in the right spots and making sure we were connected.
 
"I thought Amir, while he struggled offensively, he guarded their toughest guys all game and grabbed 11 rebounds. Our freshman Quinn Thorne was really good, and he played the most minutes he's played since being a Warrior, and in a big league game too. He really gave us a boost. Off the bench, Anthony was really good as well. We got a lot of contributions from a lot of places tonight."
 
In the first half it took Westmont some time to find their offensive footing, as the club was called for six travels during the period. Westmont's inability to keep possession, along with LPU making five of their first seven shots from three, allowed the road-Warriors to lead Westmont 22-11 at the 11:50 mark.
 
From there, however, Life Pacific went cold, scoring only seven points for the rest of the half. After taking their 11-point advantage, LPU was held scoreless for the next five minutes, allowing Westmont carry their defensive momentum on the offensive side. During the scoreless spell, a 3-pointer from McIntyre highlighted a 9-0 to pull Westmont within two.
 
The Santa Barbara-based Warriors tied things with a 3-pointer from Roth at the 2:47 mark, and on the next possession, Thorne delivered another three to put Westmont up 32-29. Moments later, another bucket from McIntyre capped off a 10-0 run to end the half, sending Westmont into the locker room with a 34-29 advantage.
 
Westmont held LPU at arm's distance for the first seven minutes of the second, but at the 12:07 mark, the San Dimas-based Warriors hit their second three in a row to lead 46-43. A minute later, Life Pacific scored three more points to cap off a 10-0 run, momentarily giving them a 48-43 advantage.
 
It did not take long, however, for Westmont to answer with a 7-0 run of their own over the next 90 seconds, highlighted by the nightly clutch three from Roth. Minutes later, with 6:36 left in regulation, Roth connected again from beyond the arc for what felt like an early dagger, putting Westmont up 60-53.
 
After Westmont got some breathing room down the stretch, the home-Warriors continued to add onto their lead, pushing the advantage to a game-high 78-63 during the final minute. Sixty seconds later, Westmont sent the crowd home happy with an 80-64 victory.
 
"Ultimately, we got organized tonight, and that was the difference," reflected Boucher. "Moving forward, it was a good win tonight, but we have to put it behind us with a quick turnaround on Saturday.
 
"I'm really proud of this one, this was a team effort. With a short lineup, everybody needed to step up. Tonight's that's what happened, and ultimately, we improved."
 
The club now begins a stretch of three consecutive road games, the first of which will take place on Saturday at Grossmont College. At 2:00 p.m. in El Cajon, Westmont will take on San Diego Christian, before preparing for their Arizona road trip next weekend.
 
Links to live coverage of the upcoming road trip are available on the Westmont Athletics website.