By Jacob Norling
November 22, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont (2-2) found themselves in an uphill battle with the UCSB Gauchos (2-2) on Wednesday night in The Thunderdome, but the Warriors refused to play victim in a hard-fought 91-79 loss. Few breaks went the Warriors way throughout the evening, but an energized Westmont bench left the night with a confident posture after a handful of surges late in the second half.
 
"We were coming off a tough loss at San Francisco State," explained Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "From that loss, we found some stuff that we really needed to improve on. We came into tonight needing to get better, and I felt that in a lot of ways, we improved tonight.
 
"UCSB is a great team. I think they could be a national tournament team this year, and our guys battled all night long, on defense especially. Ultimately, you want to come in and win this game, but I look at tonight as a good sign in the way we were able to improve."
 
Westmont answered each of the first-two baskets made by UCSB with one of their own, but once the Gauchos went up 6-4 two minutes in, it was an uphill climb the rest of the way. Defensively, Westmont gave themselves chances for several minutes, but offensively, the Warriors were stifled for much of the first half.
 
At the 8:43 mark Jarret Bryant converted on a second-chance jumper to pull Westmont within eight (22-14), but over the next three minutes, Westmont would be outscored 11-0 in what felt like a blink of an eye. At that point, trailing 33-14, Westmont had shot just six of 23 from the field (26%), while the Gauchos had converted 12 of 21 from the field, including four of seven from beyond the arc.
 
Adding insult to injury for Westmont, the Warriors gave the ball away seven of the times in the first half, and also committed 11 fouls compared to UCSB's five. The Gauchos shot 11 total free throws in the first period, while the Warriors did not get to the charity stripe once.
 
Still, over the final 90 seconds of the half, a pair of baskets from Bryant followed by a last-second jumper by Anthony McIntyre sent Westmont into the intermission feeling a bit better about themselves trailing 46-31.
 
Westmont did not go away early in the second half, with a jumper by Amir Davis pulling Westmont within 12 (54-42) by the time of the first media timeout (15:39). Westmont's hope peaked at the 14:36 mark in the second half, when a step-back three from Anthony McIntyre got Westmont back within eight (57-49).
 
On the next possession, however, the game began to once again slip away. Westmont sent a Gaucho to the line for two shots, with UCSB's shooter converting the first to put the home team up nine. The shooter missed his second free throw, but Westmont surrendered an offensive rebound followed by an immediate layup that put UCSB back up 11.
 
By the time of the second media timeout (11:58), Westmont once again trailed by 17 at 68-51.
 
At the 6:24 mark the frequently-blew whistles began to catch up with Westmont, as Amir Davis fouled out with Westmont trailing 77-57. The fifth and final whistle on Davis occurred after what the Westmont bench believed to be an and-one, instead called an offensive charge. At that point in the game, Westmont had shot just one free throw, compared to 21 for the Gauchos.
 
Two minutes later, the fourth foul call on Mason Romano, who played just six minutes to that point, sent UCSB to the line for their 22nd and 23rd free throws to put the Gauchos up 81-62. After an extended dry spell without receiving a call, the eldest McIntyre finally earned Westmont their own trip to the line, after wearing contact and converting a layup with an even four minutes remaining (81-65).
 
The two sides continued to trade baskets as the clock wore down, with a pair of last-minute threes from Jalen Townsell highlighting a late surge by the Warriors. At the end of the night, the Gauchos won it by a final score of 91-79.
 
The two teams have played seven times this century, with the 12-point difference being the closest Westmont-UCSB matchup since December of 2002.
 
"To play against a great team, in front of a great crowd, it was a lot of fun," reflected Boucher. "It was a huge challenge for us, but we continued to harp on the fact that we needed to have a next-play mentality. We took a few timeouts, and successfully regathered ourselves tonight.
 
"Our guys did a great job in this one of always being ready for the next play."
 
Individually, the star of Westmont's night was Anthony McIntyre, who scored a game-high 28 points on 10 of 16 shooting, including five makes from beyond the arc. Behind McIntyre, Bryant ended the night with 17 points, Townsell ended the night with 14, and Adrian McIntyre finished with 11. Bryant also led Westmont with 12 boards, while the younger McIntyre and Drew Ramirez each finished with three assists.
 
"Our main priority coming into tonight's game was to get better as a team," assured Anthony McIntyre. "When we were playing our game, and attacking, we played some good basketball tonight. On the defensive end, of course, they're big, but we held our own. I feel like we got a lot out of this one."
 
Looking forward to PacWest play around the corner, the leading-scorer said, "We're coming in hungry. We want to show the league what Westmont Basketball is about, and what Westmont Basketball is going to be about for years to come.
 
"We're ready."
 
Westmont will have one more pre-conference tune-up on Saturday night in The Murch, when they host Life Pacific at 6:00 p.m. Links to tickets and live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.