By Jacob Norling
November 8, 2024
 
(BILLINGS, Mont.) Westmont Men's Basketball (0-1) had the lead for over 60% of their opening night contest, but in the end, the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets (1-0) handed the Warriors a 79-75 loss to start their season. Amongst a few reasons for the loss was the fact that the Warriors lost the rebound battle 42-30. Still, the Warriors gave themselves plenty of chances to make that a moot point.
 
By the final buzzer, though, the Jackets left the Warriors wondering "what if", instead of celebrating their first win.
 
"We faced an older team on their home court, and these guys are really, really good at home," explained Westmont head coach Landon Boucher. "We were up eight in the first half, and we were up eight in the second half, but this is a disappointing one because I think we did a lot of things well tonight.
 
"We did a really good job on a lot of their players, but collectively, they got us on the glass late. We're trying to figure it out. With such a new team we're trying to find our identity in a really tough situation, facing a really good team that's really good on their home floor. That's not an easy task."
 
Drew Ramirez, who scored 21 points on Friday, drained Westmont's first shot of the season, one of their 36 three-point attempts. The three-ball started a quick 7-0 run for the Warriors out of the gate, with Westmont carrying the momentum to an 18-8 lead after another triple from Remington Rofer. Following Rofer's three, however, the Warriors went nearly eight minutes before making another field goal.
 
At that point, after a layup from Adrian McIntyre, Westmont had let the lead slip to the Yellowjackets who possessed a 26-23 advantage. Minutes later, the Warriors walked into the locker room trailing 33-31 at intermission.
 
Westmont trailed by six early in the second half, before a three-pointer from Aidan Mandel put the Warriors up 41-39 with 17:11 to play. McIntyre, who could not be stopped for much of the night, caught fire partway through the second half, with one of his five three-pointers putting Westmont up 58-49 as the game entered its final 10 minutes.
 
Then, however, the Jackets responded with a 12-3 run over the next four minutes to knot things up 61 all. It was a pair of free throws that allowed MSUB to tie the contest, which would begin a sour few minutes for the Warriors who could not get away with much physicality in the paint.
 
By night's end, Westmont conceded 21 free throws, while the officials had awarded the Warriors only eight themselves. Making matters worse, the Jackets would not miss one of their 21 looks from the charity stripe, while Westmont made six of their eight attempts.
 
Westmont trailed by four in the final two minutes, but baskets by McIntyre and Caleb Gilbert allowed the Warriors to tie things at 73 with 46 seconds remaining. In the final 46 seconds, however, MSUB shot their 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st free throws of the night, with all six falling. Westmont's only basket in the final stretch was an uncontested layup, once Billings had already put the game on ice.
 
"I thought we fought really hard," reflected Boucher. "Still, I think we could have been a little bit smarter. Not in terms of decisions we made with the ball, but I think we could have done a better job being comfortable out there, albeit in a hostile environment."
 
The result spoiled a spectacular night for McIntyre, who led all scorers with 28 points. McIntyre also led Westmont with 10 rebounds, securing the senior a double-double on the first night of his senior campaign. Along with Ramirez' 21 points, Jarrett Bryant scored 10. Outside of those three, however, the Warriors made just five of 19 field goals.
 
"We're learning each individual right now, and learning what we need from each of them on a nightly basis," continued Boucher. "I think Montana State Billings is going to be really good this year, but I feel like we had our chances tonight. I hope we learn from it.
 
"I'm glad we've got a quick turnaround and can get back after it tomorrow against another really good team.
 
Westmont returns to action at 5:00 p.m. MST/4:00 p.m. PST on Saturday, when the club takes on Saint Martin's before returning to Santa Barbara. Links to live coverage will be available on the Westmont Athletics website.