Box Score By Jacob Norling
December 16, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) The Point Loma Sea Lions got the better of Westmont Men's Basketball (4-6, 1-4 PacWest) on Saturday night, when Sea Lions outlasted the Warriors by a score of 79-75. For Point Loma (7-3, 2-0), it is their 32nd consecutive regular season PacWest win, dating back nearly two years to January of 2022.
 
"Once again, we're right there," said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "Our offensive highs are so good, but our lows are just a little bit too low. We need to continue finding ways to get steady. It was the difference in the game tonight.
 
"While we had our highs and lows, Point Loma was just steady. In both halves, our start was too slow. We improved as the night went on, but against teams like that, you can't have that man lulls and expect to win."
 
Westmont committed 16 turnovers on the night, which led to 23 extra points for Point Loma. The Sea Lions also converted 20 of 24 shots from the free throw line, while Westmont made 15 of 22.
 
"Coming off finals at Westmont is a tall task," acknowledged Boucher. "I felt like I saw that in our decision making and in the finite details tonight. It looked like we were just making uncharacteristic errors.
 
"We missed six free throws in the second half, and then turned the ball over more than we had all season. If you cut those in half, it's an entirely different outcome."
 
Before the first media timeout Westmont had already committed five turnovers, with Point Loma taking a 13-4 lead into the day's first stoppage (15:50). With under 10 to play in the half Point Loma's lead remained as high as nine points, but Westmont began to chip away thanks to their ability to spread the wealth on offense.
 
All eight players who appeared in the first half for Westmont ended up putting points on the board, with Anthony McIntyre providing the biggest spark off the bench with 11 points. Westmont's optimism reached its highest point during the period at the 22-second mark, when Zeke Viuhkola buried a 3-pointer to pull Westmont within one at 38-37.
 
With their final shot of the half, however, Point Loma's Zack Paulsen answered with a 3-pointer of his own to send the Sea Lions into the locker room leading 41-37.
 
Adrian McIntyre pulled Westmont even for the first time at the 13:30 mark in the second half, thanks to a foul that allowed McIntyre to shoot and convert three game-tying free throws. A minute later, his older brother converted a layup to give Westmont their first lead at 56-54. At that point in the contest, the brothers had each scored a game-high 15 points.
 
Unfortunately for Westmont, following the go-ahead basket by McIntyre, the Warriors went scoreless for over three minutes, with PLNU going on a 7-0 run at that point. Going into a timeout at the 9:26 mark, Point Loma led 61-56.
 
Westmont trailed by as many as seven with four minutes remaining (73-66), but a resilient effort allowed the Warriors to pull within two as the game entered its final three minutes. The teams stayed separated by a basket for much of the final minutes, and the game entered its final 45 seconds with PLNU leading 77-75.
 
The game was all but decided at the 13 second mark, when the Warriors came away with a steal that gave them the opportunity to either tie or win the contest. Before that opportunity would come to pass, however, Westmont immediately tossed the ball back to Point Loma, forcing Westmont send the Sea Lions to the free throw line.
 
From there, Point Loma converted a pair of free throws to put the game on ice.
 
"Right now, it feels like a low point in our season," noted Boucher, "but I know that our players are high character, and I know that we have a ton of fight in this group. We just have to keep moving forward. It's a long season.
 
"We're not showing up and getting boat-raced. These are tight games, we have leads, and we have opportunities to win these types of games. It's frustrating, because we are so close, but also it's encouraging, because we are so close."
 
The Warriors will return to the court on Tuesday night at 7:00 p.m., when they host Northwest Nazarene in a non-conference matchup. Links to tickets and live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.