By Jacob Norling
January 29, 2025
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (7-13, 5-7 PacWest) was unable to get it done in front of a packed house on Wednesday night when the Warriors fell 89-82 to the Biola Eagles (15-6, 9-4). A veteran Biola team appeared unfazed in front of a raucous Murchison crowd, with the Eagles trailing for all of 90 seconds during their eventual ninth win in PacWest play.
 
Westmont trailed 18-9 early thanks to four three-pointers from Biola on five attempts, but an early nine points from Adrian McIntyre to go along with a breakaway dunk from Mason Romano brought Murchison gym alive in the first half. Entering the game's second media timeout, Westmont had drawn within three at 20-17 (11:37). Back-and-forth the two sides went, however, when following a 20-20 tie Biola sprinted to a 6-0 run to force Boucher into an early timeout (10:06).
 
Biola stretched their lead to as many as eight (28-20), but five huge points from De'Undrae Perteete sent the Warriors into a huddle exhaling looking up at just a three point deficit (7:42). The Warriors pulled within one thanks to baskets from McIntyre and Jarrett Bryant, but Westmont missed a handful of opportunities to take the lead, forcing the club to once again look up at a three-point deficit at the four-minute mark in the half (34-31).
 
At the three-minute mark fan favorite Remington Rofer held up three fingers to his home crowd after tying the game, and after Biola answered with two of their own, Rofer finished at the rim to draw Westmont even again. Moments later, free throws from McIntyre gave Westmont its first lead of the night at 40-38 (2:08). A stomach-churning 7-0 run from Biola tempered the vibes inside Murchison gym over the next minute however, sending Westmont into the half's final minute once again trailing by five (45-40). Matters only grew worse moments later, when a buzzer-beating three from the Eagles quieted the crowd and sent Westmont into the locker room trailing 48-42 at the break.
 
At halftime, Biola had made six of their 11 from three-point land, while Westmont made just four of their first 13. As a team, Biola was over 50% from the field (18-33), while Westmont shot 44.8% (13-29). Fortunately for Westmont, the Warriors did make all 12 of their free throws during the opening half. McIntyre, who had 19 at the break, made all six of his attempts from the stripe.
 
Ninety seconds into the second half The Murch started to tense up, as Biola grew their lead to eight at 52-44. Sixty seconds after that, Biola's seventh three made it a nine-point deficit. One possession after that, Biola began to pull away with a double-digit lead not even four minutes into the half (59-48). Seven whistles went against the Warriors in the first seven minutes of the second half, with Westmont trailing by 12 by the time Biola was called for their second foul of the period (67-55).
 
Westmont made just five of their first 19 from three-point range, but Westmont was kept afloat by the interior scoring of McIntyre for the first ten minutes of the second half. On the other end, Biola's eighth three in 15 tries had the Eagles up 11 with 10 minutes to play. The vibe changed ever so slightly when two missed three throws from Biola led into a 5-0 run for Westmont thanks to two huge baskets from Aidan Mandel, and a charge drawn by Rofer heading into a media timeout (76-70).
 
McIntyre kept it rolling with an acrobatic finish at the rim, pulling Westmont with four at the 7:10 mark in the half. Three minutes later, four more crucial points from McIntyre helped Westmont keep their heads above water at the 4:15 point in the half with Westmont trailing 82-76. Just 15 seconds later, though, Westmont once again looked up at a nine-point deficit (85-76). The Eagles hit the dagger with 2:35 remaining, when a layup once again sent Westmont down double-digits. Minutes later, the Eagles and Warriors shook hands after Biola's 69th all-time win over Westmont.
 
Westmont ended up shooting over 50% from the field (30-59), but the Warriors just could not stop a Biola team that ended the night shooting 58.2% from the field (32-55). Westmont was unable to take advantage of just the 11th 40-point game in program history, which of course belonged to McIntyre who finished with an even 40 on 15-22 shooting.
 
Westmont's home stand concludes on Saturday night against Concordia, when the Warriors tip-off with the Golden Eagles at 7:30 p.m.