By Jacob Norling
November 22, 2024
 
(NAMPA, Idaho.) Westmont Men's Basketball (1-3) stole one on Friday night in Nampa, Idaho when the Northwest Nazarene Nighthawks (3-1) just could not put the Warriors away. NNU led by as many as 13 in their home gym, but a last-minute game-tying three for Westmont finished off a late surge that sent the contest into overtime.
 
Then, in the five minute overtime, Westmont put up an absurd 21 points to claim the contest 82-80. In contrast, Westmont scored only 24 points during the entirety of the first half. Westmont just could not get the ball to fall during the opening period, with the Warriors shooting just 37.0% from the field (10-27) as they entered the locker trailing down 32-24.
 
In the second half, however, a relentless offense flipped the script. In the final 20 minutes of regulation, Westmont shot 59.1% from the field (13-22), which included four makes from beyond the arc. The Warriors also took advantage of their trips to the charity stripe, where the group made nine of 11 in the second half.
 
It took more than half of the second period, but with 9:29 on the clock a layup from Adrian McIntyre tied the contest at 42. The basket gave McIntyre 18 points on the night, which would not even be half his final total. From that point on the two sides traded baskets to a tight-knit finish in regulation, but with 2:16 to play NNU reclaimed a multi-possession lead at 60-56.
 
Over the next minute-plus, a handful of free throws from McIntyre allowed Westmont to keep pace and stay within one possession. Then, with only 19 seconds remaining, senior Mason Romano drained a corner-three right in front of the Westmont bench to knot things up at 63. The Warriors would never trail again.
 
Overtime began with McIntyre picking up a quick layup, providing him with two more of his eventual game-high 38 points. A pair of clutch free throws from Will Smith III allowed the margin to keep growing, and another layup from McIntyre all-of-a-sudden put Westmont up seven with 2:36 remaining (71-64). Over the final stretch of action, NNU had possession of the ball with a chance to tie it. Some garbage time baskets made the margin appear closer, but in the end, a dominant overtime allowed Westmont to find itself in the win column for the first time this season.
 
"It was a gritty win tonight," said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "That's a place that a lot of coaches in that league say is hard to win at, and it was. I'm just super proud of our guys for being down at half, shooting 37.0%, and then coming back out in the second half with such a huge turnaround.
 
"Our guys played free and they played confident, and that came from the trust they're already building with each other. We just had such great output from both Mason Romano and Jarrett Bryant tonight. They both had nine rebounds, and then for Mason, hitting that three was huge."
 
Boucher continued, "It was a steady game for a lot of guys, and Will is something who stood out tonight, not only with 10 points but he was solid on defense, too. It was a team effort tonight. Mason played 32 minutes off the bench, Jarrett played 27 minutes, and we just had great output from our upperclassmen.
"Adrian led the way as our senior, with Mason behind him as well. The best part was seeing how excited they all were for each other. That was just a great team win."
 
The Warriors return to action on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. MST/3:30 p.m. PST, when they take on Central Washington back in Northwest Nazarene's gym. Links to live coverage are available on the Westmont Athletics website.