By Jacob Norling
December 19, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) In their final game before Christmas break Westmont Men's Basketball (4-7) fell in a non-conference matchup to Northwest Nazarene (5-4) by a score of 82-67. Westmont will now have 11 days off before returning to PacWest play on the penultimate day of the calendar year.
 
Northwest Nazarene enjoyed a notable size advantage over Westmont, and by the end of the night, the Warriors had been out-rebounded 42-25. The other note that stands out from the box score was the fact that Westmont suffered from a difficult night at the charity stripe.
 
The Nighthawks shot 13 free throws on the night and were able to stretch out their lead due to the fact they converted 11 of them. For the Warriors, Westmont was awarded an eye-popping 27 free throws. In nightmare fashion, however, Westmont made only 11 of the 27, and with each miss, the frustration continued to build for the Warriors.
 
The Warriors did make 26 of 52 shots from the field, but for a team that can often live and die by the 3-pointer, the Warriors knocked down only four of 19 shots from beyond the arc.
 
Still, having been outrebounded by 17, while missing 16 free throws, the Warriors found themselves in a tight matchup for most of the night. Westmont trailed by as many as nine in the first half, but at the 16-minute in the second half, a layup by Amir Davis gave the Warriors their first lead since the opening seconds of the contest (45-44).
 
However, at the 14:34 mark, the Nighthawks converted a shot from beyond the arc that put the road team up 49-47. From that point on, Westmont never led again.
 
At the 9:21 mark, NNU took a two possession lead at 60-56, and from that point on, Westmont never again made it a one possession contest. With just-under four minutes remaining NNU pushed its lead to double-figures for the first time, and at the two-minute mark NNU pushed its lead to a game-high 15, where the game would ultimately end at 82-67.
 
Individually, Anthony McIntyre scored a team-high 23 points on nine of 14 shooting, while Adrian McIntyre scored 14 on five of 12 shooting. On the other end, Westmont could not handle the size of Gabriel Murphy, who ended the night with 24 points and seven rebounds.
 
Westmont's next contest is scheduled for December 30 at 3:00 p.m., when the Warriors play host to the Dominican Penguins. Links to tickets and live coverage will be available on the Westmont Athletic website.