By Jacob Norling
February 23, 2023
 
(FULLERTON, Calif.) For the second year in a row Westmont Men's Basketball (17-11) saw their run into the GSAC Tournament come to an end at the hands of the OUAZ Spirit (18-9). This year, the Spirit eliminated the Warriors by a score of 93-73 in the GSAC Quarterfinals.
 
The postseason lid-lifter was a tightly-contested matchup for the first 30 minutes of the play, but in the final quarter of action the Spirit proved to be too much to handle as they built a double-digit lead in the blink of an eye.
 
"It was a tough one," said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "I felt like we controlled the second part of the first half, and went into halftime with a lot of momentum. Then, we struggled to keep with our defensive plan that we executed in the last 10 minutes of the first half."
 
The first half of action saw OUAZ take a nine-point advantage early, leading 29-20 with 6:30 remaining in the period. Over the final 6:30 of the half, however, the Warriors went on a momentum-shifting 20-9 run to enter the locker room with a 40-38 advantage.
 
The Spirit converted six 3-pointers before the Warriors could get their first to fall, but after Anthony McIntyre converted the club's first, Kyler Warren followed up with another to give Westmont their first lead (34-33) with 2:25 left in the half.
 
In the second half Westmont looked like they might create some distance when McIntyre hit another three to put the club up 45-40 with under 19 minutes to play. Following the three-ball, however, OUAZ went on a 14-4 run over the next three minutes, putting the club up 54-49 with 15 minutes remaining.
 
At the 12:48 mark in the half a layup from Jalen Townsell put Westmont up 57-56, but following the brief lead change, OUAZ's knockout punch arrived.
 
Over the next two minutes of action the Spirit went on an explosive 13-2 run, scoring on several open layups in transition. The offensive burst put the club up 67-59 with 10:25 to play, forcing Boucher to call a timeout as the Spirit's bench sensed blood in the water.
 
Out of the timeout, Westmont would not score for nearly four minutes. During that stretch, OUAZ scored 13 unanswered points to break things wide open, at one point leading 80-59 with 6:30 remaining. The Spirit led by as many as 23 down the stretch, and ultimately defeated a shell-shocked Westmont club 93-73.
 
In the second half, the Spirit shot an astronomical 74.07% from the field (20-27).
 
"All of a sudden you look up at the scoreboard with nine minutes to go, and we're down 15," reflected Boucher. "It's almost a sense of shock when you ask yourself, 'what just happened?'. What made it hurt even worse was the way they were scoring. There were quite a few open threes, and too many wide open layups.
 
"It was a defeating way to get scored on and have that get away from us."
 
In what could be his final game in a Westmont uniform, fifth-year senior Cade Roth led the club with 18 points. Behind him, Tone Patton Sr. scored 14 points, and Cly Griffith Jr. scored 10. On the other end of the court, OUAZ had six scorers in double-figures, and out-rebounded Westmont 39-23.
 
The Warriors will now have to wait and see if they receive an at-large berth into the NAIA National Tournament. The full 64-team bracket will be released on Thursday, March 2.
 
"We're just trying to stay together until we find out," offered Boucher. "It's a tough situation now where you're in the sense of waiting. We don't know what our fate is, but we're hoping for another chance to play.
 
"I know we can play better than we did tonight, so I hope we can get the chance to do so."