By Jacob Norling
January 10, 2024
 
(AZUSA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (5-9, 2-6 PacWest) fell down double-digits in the first half and was unable to recover in the second in an eventual 77-64 defeat at the hands of Azusa Pacific (5-9, 4-3). For the Warriors, who now fall to 2-6 in PacWest play, the contest down in Azusa was the first of four consecutive road games to open the spring semester.
 
The Cougars cleaned up the boards big time on Wednesday night, out-rebounding the Warriors 48-28, including 18-8 offensively. The offensive rebounds ultimately led to 15 second-chance points for the Cougars. Azusa led by as many as 23, and had possession of the lead for just about 32 minutes on the night, taking control at the 5:30 mark in the first half before never looking back.
 
The first 15 minutes of the contest were tight-knit, with Westmont leading temporarily at the six-minute mark by a score of 20-18. However, following the Jalen Townsell jumper that pushed their total to 20, Westmont was outscored 20-6 over the final 5:30 of the first half. Entering the locker room, the Warriors found themselves trailing 38-26.
 
Westmont scored the first basket of the second half to pull within 10, but following the make, the team went scoreless for another three minutes. By the 16:30 mark in the second half, APU's lead had grown to 20 points at 49-29.
 
With just-under 14 minutes to play the Cougars pushed the deficit to 23 points at 55-32, with the eventual result of the contest beginning to come into focus. A valiant run by the Warriors saw the club pull back within single digits with two minutes to play (70-62), but the damage was already done by the Cougars, who iced the game at the free throw line in the closing moments.
 
Individually, Anthony McIntyre led Westmont with 17 points on seven of 14 shooting, while Adrian McIntyre contributed with 14 points as well. Amir Davis and Zeke Viuhkola both joined the McIntyre brothers in double-figures with 10 points each, while Davis also led Westmont with eight rebounds. 
 
Westmont's road trip continues on Saturday night in Irvine, where the Warriors will take on Concordia at 6:00 p.m. Links to live coverage will be available on the Westmont Athletics website.