By Jacob Norling
March 7, 2023
 
(BUTTE, Mont.) Westmont Men's Basketball (17-12) saw their season come to a close on Tuesday night in Butte, Montana, when the four-seeded Montana Tech Orediggers (27-4) defeated the Warriors 83-69. Westmont had a brief taste of momentum following tip-off, but once the Orediggers' locked in their defensive efforts, the Warriors could do little to cut into the deficit.
 
"It felt like it was our first time at nationals," said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "A few years ago there were no regionals and you just went to Kansas City. Oftentimes there was an empty crowd aside from a few parents that traveled.
 
"Now though, it's really tough to go on the road and compete during a regional. It's tough to go into anyone's house, but it's another to try and go into Montana Tech's house. The fans were amazing, and the home-court advantage made a huge difference."
 
Across the first five minutes of the game the Orediggers arrived late to the party, allowing Westmont to build a 9-3 lead going into Tech's first timeout at the 15:30 mark. Following the timeout, the back-to-back Frontier Conference Champions claimed the court.
 
After going behind 9-3 Montana Tech outscored Westmont 17-5 over the next five minutes, beginning to build their lead at 20-14 as the half entered its final 10 minutes. The final ten minutes of the half weren't any more promising than the previous five minutes for Westmont, as Montana Tech outscored the Warriors 24-15 during the final chunk of the period.
 
Following Westmont's 9-3 advantage, Montana Tech outscored Westmont 41-20 to enter the intermission with a 44-29 lead. Westmont shot at a 48% clip and Tech shot at a 48.6% clip during the half, but the biggest issue was the fact that the Warriors allowed the Diggers 10 more shots.
 
The Warriors committed 10 first-half turnovers compared to the Diggers' three, and off of those turnovers, Montana Tech scored 13 points. Tech's bench outscored Westmont 22-6 during the period, and the Diggers also outscored the Warriors in the paint by a 28-14 margin.
 
In the second half Westmont once again came out with their biggest punch in the first five minutes, trimming the deficit to 49-42 with 15:15 remaining. Once again, however, Tech called a timeout, reset their defense, and took control of the game.
 
After getting back within seven five minutes into the half, five minutes later the Warriors found themselves trailing by 17 again. While the Warriors hung around for the first ten minutes of the half on the edge of striking distance, back-to-back 3-pointers by Tech's Asa Williams put the club up 61-44 as the game entered its final 10 minutes.
 
With five minutes to play a 3-pointer from Drew Ramirez pulled Westmont back within 11, with under four minutes to play, a layup from Tone Patton Sr. made it a 70-61 game. With under three minutes to play Ramirez had another look that would have pulled Westmont within six, but the shot would not fall.
 
On the ensuing possession, the Diggers drilled their seventh three of the night to go back up 12, and extinguish Westmont's last hope of erasing the deficit. Minutes later, Montana Tech officially ended Westmont's season with an 83-69 loss.
 
"I was really bummed that we couldn't close the gap," began Boucher, "because I felt like if we had got it within a two-possession game that the pressure would've been on them. Credit to Montana Tech. Their best player went down on the floor during their first possession, and they still got it done."
 
At the end of the night, Ramirez led the Warriors with 16 points on six on 11 shooting, with Patton the next-highest scorer with 14. Anthony McIntyre and Amir Davis both scored 11 points, and in his final game as a Westmont Warrior, Cade Roth contributed with five points and eight rebounds.
 
"My teammates and my coaches," was the answer Roth gave when asked what he would miss most. "That's a bond that will last forever. Basketball games come and go, and I love the sport, but it's the relationships that you build along the way that make it matter.
 
"Being able to play with my brother this year was special. Being under two great coaches, and a ton of great assistant coaches was special. Because of this, there are 30-plus bonds that I'll have for life, and that's just really special."
 
During early February the Warriors had fallen to three games under .500 during conference play, but after closing the regular season on a five-game winning streak, the club's resilience was able to give the program its final trip to the National Tournament in its final year in the NAIA.
 
When asked to reflect and what he'll remember about this group, Boucher said, "You know, we have two moments in our season that I go back to. In the moment, I wasn't sure how things were going to play out. The first one was after the Utah Tech game, after we had gone on a five-game losing streak.
 
"I put a little bit of my acting face on and told the guys, 'we're not giving up'. I've never been a part of a team, as a player or a coach, where we've thrown in the towel. We came back after Christmas, and we didn't give up.
 
"Then the darkest moment of the season, as we've mentioned many times, was the San Diego Christian game. That night I didn't even say anything. I just went into the locker room, prayed, and closed it out. Not quitting after that game was even more of a testament to our players.
 
"I just pray that the seniors who are leaving the game behind, who will go through way harder times than losing five basketball games in a row, look back on these memories and know that giving up is not an option. I pray and hope that our returners use this as basketball motivation.
 
"I hope it's built into these guys that the Westmont Warriors never give up."
 
When Westmont returns to action in the fall they will begin play in NCAA Div. II, playing their conference schedule in the PacWest.