By Jacob Norling
December 9, 2023
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) In the first matchup between Westmont men's basketball (4-5, 1-3 PacWest) and Biola (5-4, 1-1) as members of the PacWest, the Eagles came into Murchison Gym and handed the Warriors an 84-70 loss on Saturday night. During the first half Westmont led by as many as 13, but quickly into the second the Eagles took control and never looked back.
 
"The game of basketball is about runs," said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "We sure made a great run in the first half that put us up 13, but then the moment came at the end of the first half when they cut it down to six.
 
"We weren't able to push through that adversity and stretch that lead back out. It felt like going into the end of the half we still had major momentum, but Biola came out and continued to flip the game quickly."
 
Murchison was rocking early on Saturday when Westmont consistently led by near double-figures in the opening half. At the 3:05 mark, Jarrett Bryant slammed home a dunk that gave Westmont their largest lead of the night at 42-29. Unfortunately for Westmont, the Warriors would only muster one more basket in the half. While the Warriors went cold offensively down the stretch, Biola enjoyed a 9-2 run going into intermission.
 
Coming out of halftime, Westmont still maintained a 44-38 advantage, but it was clear that Biola's end-of-half adjustment from the first had carried over into the second. With 16:09 to play, Biola knotted the game at 47. Then, with 15:30 remaining, Casey Cappo drilled a 3-pointer to give Biola a 50-47 advantage.
 
Westmont never again tied the game.
 
With 9:40 remaining a layup put Biola up 64-58, and from that point on, Westmont never again got closer than that eight-point margin. With 1:44 remaining Biola went up a game-high 17 at 82-65, and moments later, the Eagles headed for the buses with an 84-70 win over the Warriors.
 
Individually, Adrian McIntyre led Westmont with 18 points on eight of 13 shooting. On the other end of things, Westmont could not solve Biola's Nathan Medina, who ended the night with a game-high 25 points on 10 of 16 shooting.
 
As a team, a major problem for Westmont was their performance at the line, where the club made just nine of 19. On the other end, Biola made 20 of 30 free throws.
 
"We weren't able to bounce back after our lead diminished," noted Boucher. "Ultimately, we weren't able to claw back on either end of the floor. Biola did a great job at exploiting certain matchups, and weren't able to make adjustments.
 
"Offensively, I think it's all connected. I thought our inability to make them uncomfortable on defense made us uncomfortable on offense."
 
Boucher continued, "In life, and in basketball, things just aren't going to go your way sometimes. That's what it feels like right now, but I'll tell you this, there's no give-up on our end. We're going to continue to get better, and we're going to continue improving every single day.
 
"We're going to hit the pavement, put our hardhat on, and do the work. We're going to continue to take it one day at a time, and one game at a time, as we keep getting better."
 
Westmont will return to action a week from Saturday, once again inside Murchison Gym. On Saturday the 16th, the Warriors will host the Point Loma Sea Lions with tip-off scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Links to live coverage will be available on the Westmont Athletics website.