By Jacob Norling
December 3, 2025
 
(IRVINE, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (3-4, 0-1 PacWest) could not overcome a 21-point first half deficit on Wednesday night in Irvine, where the Warriors ultimately fell 72-61 to the Concordia Golden Eagles (4-3, 1-0). Westmont would bring themselves within a pair of possessions in the final minutes of regulation, but in the end, the Warriors were unable to overcome their shortcomings in their conference opener.
 
"The biggest takeaway for me was the reminder that we have a young team," said Westmont head coach Justin Leslie. "We haven't had a lot of guys who have played a lot of minutes in a true-road game. When you go into true-road games against teams with unique styles, it's hard to put yourself in a position where you are really mentally prepared for what that's going to be like.
 
"We tried to do everything we could in practice the last couple nights to simulate physicality, and how Concordia was going to pressure us. When it got to the real thing, it still got the best of us. We were certainly shell-shocked to start the game."
 
Six minutes into the first half a three-ball from CUI allowed the Eagles to take a 12-6 lead. Moments later, another Eagles shot from downtown made it a 15-6 deficit, which then preceded a timeout by Leslie after a CUI layup made it 17-6 (13:16). A basket from Aidan Mandel stopped the bleeding, momentarily, only for Concordia to connect once more downtown, making it 20-8 before eight minutes had passed.
 
Four minutes later, a pair of turnovers from Westmont led to a couple more fast-break baskets for CUI. A 30-14 deficit at the 7:42 mark led to another timeout from Leslie. CUI led by as many as 21 in the final minutes of the first half, with the Eagles officially leading by 17 at intermission (42-25).
 
At the break Westmont was 10 of 20 from the field, but the Warriors had missed all five of their three-point attempts. Concordia on the other side was shooting 51.9% (14-27) from the field, and 33.3% (4-12) from three-point land. CUI also converted 10 of their 12 shots from the free throw line, while Westmont had made just five of eight. Concordia had also scored 10 points off of Westmont's eight turnovers during the first half, while Westmont scored just once off of Concordia's four.
 
"At one point I think we had 10 field goal attempts and seven turnovers," reflected Leslie. "We shot 50% in the first half, but the problem is we had so many turnovers we didn't give ourselves a real opportunity to close that gap."
 
Westmont's defense came alive in a big way in the opening minutes of the second half, which led to some easier looks on offense as well. Not even four minutes had passed before Westmont got the deficit back to within single-digits, as Trey Thompson converted a pair at the line to make it an 11-0 run (44-36). Another stop followed by a Logan Huston bucket in transition then made it a 13-0 run, before another transition basket by Jarrett Bryant made it a 15-0 run (44-40) off of a beautiful full-court pass from Huston.
 
CUI finally found the basket again at the 14:30 mark, and then again from long range to make it 49-40. Chase Collins then brought Westmont a bit of momentum back once more, converting both ends of an and-one to make it a two-possession game (12:59). Westmont was down eight with 11:36 to play when the Warriors were granted two free throws thanks to a CUI technical foul. Momentum then swayed back toward the home side when neither free throw fell. Frustration only grew due to another pair of turnovers on Westmont's next two possessions. At the 9:30 mark the deficit reached 10 points again, before Braedon Bigott finished through contact and converted the ensuing free throw (55-48).
 
At the game's penultimate media timeout the deficit once again was double-digits, as Westmont's continued struggles from three-point land stood in the way of another run. At that point, Westmont had made just one of their 10 looks from beyond the arc. An impressive finish at the rim from JV Brown led the game into its final media timeout, with Westmont suddenly back within five as the game neared its climax and conclusion (62-57, 3:46). Thirty seconds later, Caleb Gilbert made his first shot of the season off the bench, a three-pointer to make it a four-point game (64-60). After a CUI basket, Brown earned his way to the line with 1:48 to go, where the southpaw made one of two (66-61). What felt like an early dagger then came at the end of the shot clock for Concordia, when a tough finish through a swarm of Westmont bodies made it 68-61 with 1:18 to play.
 
Moments later, the Golden Eagles successfully held off the Warriors by a score of 72-61.
 
"I was proud of how we responded in that second half," assured Leslie. "We are a good defensive team and I think we showed that, but our lack of poise on the offensive end did us in over the course of 40 minutes.
 
"We assured the guys at halftime that there would be an opportunity to get back in the game, and we closed it to four. There is plenty of game left even when you are in holes like that, but in those kinds of moments, that is when resolve and experience really comes into play. When you find yourself in a hole, the first thing you should do is stop digging. We just haven't learned what that proper response needs to look like in those situations yet."
 
Leslie continued, "That's two times this season where we found ourselves getting off to a slow start offensively, while the other got off to a good start. That's something we need to learn from. Our mental preparation for this unique style of teams needs to get better.
 
"Give Concordia credit, that's who they are. I've faced them plenty of times over the years, but for these players, it was their first time. I need to do a better job of getting them ready for these situations so that what happened doesn't happen again."
 
Westmont plays their PacWest home opener on Saturday in Santa Barbara, when the club will host Menlo at 3:00 p.m.