By Jacob Norling
February 14, 2024
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (8-15, 4-11 PacWest) played a competitive first half against Azusa Pacific (9-14, 8-8) on Wednesday night, but in the second half, the Cougars pulled away to hand Westmont the 79-58 loss on Valentine's Day. The win moves Azusa Pacific to an even 8-8 in PacWest play, giving the Cougars a one-game lead for the sixth and final spot in the PacWest Tournament as the season enters its final stretch.
 
Adrian McIntyre got Westmont going early on Wednesday, when he knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on the Warriors' first two possessions. The shots from McIntyre would set the tone for what turned out to be an energetic first half for the club.
 
APU did lead by as many as six in the first half (18-12), but at the 5:30 mark, Zeke Viuhkola buried his second triple in thirty seconds, putting Westmont back up at 23-20. Minutes later, at the four-minute mark in the half, Jalen Townsell converted a layup that put Westmont up 27-23, which ultimately turned out to be their largest lead of the night.
 
In the final two minutes of the opening half, Azusa Pacific connected on three different shots from beyond the arc, allowing the Cougars to enter the locker room leading 36-30, despite Westmont leading for much of the period.
 
The second half did not allow much room for optimism out of the gate, with APU opening the second on an 11-2 run. At that point, with 16 minutes remaining, Westmont was already down 15 at 47-32.
 
The Warriors would cut the deficit back to 12 with 13:20 remaining (54-42), but the lead never shrunk more beyond that. With two minutes to play, the lead grew to 20 for the first time, and 30 seconds after that, APU took their largest of the night at 79-56. At night's end, the Warriors would be out-scored 43-28 in the second half in the eventual 79-58 loss.
 
As a team, APU shot just above 50% as they made 27 of 53 from the field (50.9%). The real damage occurred beyond the arc, where the Cougars converted 11 of 21. The standout of the night, and early favorite for PacWest Player of the Week, was Ken West, who finished the night with 31 points and eight three's to his name.
 
For Westmont, the team struggled with a club-wide clip of 35.5% (22-62), and converted only six of their 25 heaves from three-point land. Individually, Anthony McIntyre led Westmont with 14 points, while Jarrett Bryant grabbed a team-best seven boards, and Amir Davis collected a team-high five assists.
 
Westmont will return to action on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m., when they host Chaminade inside Murchison Gym.