By Jacob Norling
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Playing in the first NCAA Division II game in program history, Westmont Men's Basketball (1-0) sent a packed Murchison Gym crowd home happy on Friday night in Santa Barbara. After entering the second half down seven, the Warriors outscored the Montana State Billings YellowJackets (0-1) 53-29 in the final period, giving Westmont their first win in the NCAA.
 
"It was a fun one," nodded Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "We didn't get caught up before or after about how this was our first DII game, we were just caught up with protecting home court. We've talked a lot this fall about how historically, those who've come before us have done an amazing job of protecting home court.
 
"It's something like an 80% win rate in this gym, and we talked a lot about how important it was to hold things down in 'The Murch', like players have been doing for decades. It was a great win over a great team tonight."
 
Westmont trailed by as many as 14 in the first half, but with 28 seconds left in the period, sophomore Zeke Viuhkola drilled what felt like a game-changing three-pointer to pull the club within seven (36-29). It took Westmont another four minutes to draw even when the second half began, but at the 16:11 mark in the period, Adrian McIntyre tied things up with a three-ball in his Warrior debut.
 
Also making his Westmont debut, Dayshone Henry put Westmont up moments later with a fast-break layup. From that point on, the Warriors never trailed again. The lead began to grow insurmountable at the 10:08 mark in the half, when Anthony McIntyre did like his little brother, and nailed a shot from beyond the arc to put the Warriors up 53-44.
 
Two minutes later, the elder McIntyre hit another 3-pointer to put the Warriors up 14 at 60-46. From there, it was a matter of holding off the Jackets. With 6:40 to play Billings got as close at eight at 62-54, but within two minutes Westmont had built the lead back to 13 thanks to a layup from newcomer Jarrett Bryant.
 
Drew Ramirez put the finishing touches on a crowd-pleasing night with a fast-break layup in the final minute, and the Warriors ended the night being showered by a standing ovation following the 17-point victory (82-65).
 
Westmont spread the wealth on offense with Adrian McIntyre, Anthony McIntyre, and Jarrett Bryant all scoring a team-high 14 points. Right behind them, Ramirez scored 13 points on six of eight shooting. Amir Davis and Jalen Townsell each pulled down eight rebounds, while Davis also led Westmont with four assists.
 
Off the bench, nine points from Viuhkola would not go unnoticed.
 
"That's what great about this team," said Boucher of his team's point distribution. "It could be anybody on any night, and iron sharpens iron. We've been sharpening each other in practice for months now. Tonight, we were in a difficult spot, and then Zeke came in. He sat for the first 16 minutes, and then he was a huge reason we brought the lead down to seven by half. That was a major key factor of our success."
 
Boucher continued, "Jalen played like an absolute man pulling down eight rebounds, and our forwards all played great defensively, which led to baskets on the other end. Lastly, Mac (Anthony) really helped us break things open off the bench tonight.
 
"The brothers both played well tonight, and as a whole, it was a great showing in front of a really great crowd."
 
The Warriors will return to the court on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. when they play host to Saint Martin's (Wash.). Links to tickets and live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.