By Jacob Norling
February 1, 2025
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (8-13, 6-7 PacWest) continued to make scoreboard watching season fun on Saturday night in The Murch, when the Warriors got back in the win column by defeating the Concordia Golden Eagles (11-9, 6-7) 71-61. At bedtime, Westmont was one of three teams with a 6-7 record, all tied for the sixth and final spot in the PacWest Tournament with seven games to play.
 
After being bitten by Biola's three-point shooting on Wednesday, Westmont passed that curse onto Concordia as the Warriors made three of their first four shots from beyond the arc forcing CUI into an early timeout. With 12:04 remaining in the half, three-balls from Jarrett Bryant, Drew Ramirez, and Adrian McIntyre had Westmont up 19-11. Bryant added Westmont's fourth three a minute later, and by time of the game's third media stoppage, Bryant already had 12 points on five of five shooting.
 
At that point, Westmont led by 10 without McIntyre having taken more than two shots (25-15). Over the next five minutes, however, Westmont scored just one point while being called for a trio of offensive fouls. It was not as though CUI sprinted back into the game, however, as CUI managed just four points of their own during Westmont's cold streak going into a timeout at the 3:24 mark (26-19).
 
CUI would regret that missed opportunity, as Westmont closed out the half with a layup from McIntyre, a three from De'Undrae Perteete, and a massive dunk from Aidan Mandel. Heading into the locker room, Westmont led 33-23 thanks to a 56.5% clip from the field (13-23). On the other end, Concordia shot just 33.3% (11-33), which included a one of 10 mark from three-point range.
 
Bryant collected Westmont's first field goal of the night to open the second half, making Bryant a perfect six of six to open the night. An out of the ordinary occurrence was the fact that McIntyre started the night just two of six from the field to give himself five points. It was only a matter of time, however, when a McIntyre layup heading into a media timeout put Westmont up 40-29 (15:47).
 
At the 14:20 mark Drew Ramirez connected from long range to put the Warriors up 12 with their first three-pointer of the second half. McIntyre collected another layup two minutes later heading into a media timeout, but the Golden Eagles continued to linger with 12 minutes left at 45-37. Just one minute later, however, buckets from Perteete and McIntyre rebuilt Westmont's lead to a dozen. What felt like an early dagger commenced one possession later, when McIntyre landed a three in front of the student section to put Westmont up 15 (52-37). At that point, McIntyre, Perteete, and Bryant each had 14.
 
McIntyre began to take matters into his own hands down the stretch, scoring five unanswered points just before a media timeout at the 4:30 mark. Heading into the final stretch of action Westmont had the finish line in sight up 57-46. A continuous exclamation point down the stretch included a dunk from Mason Romano, a three from Remington Rofer, and an acrobatic finish from McIntyre at the rim. A breakaway layup from Ramirez just about put the finishing touches on the game entering its 40th and final minute, at the end of which Westmont walked off the floor with a 71-61 win.
 
McIntyre ended the night with 21 points on nine of 14 shooting, while Perteete finished with 19 on six of nine shooting. Westmont ended the night shooting over 65% from the field (27-41) while holding Concordia to a mark of 38.8% (26-67). A huge distinction between the two box scores was the team's difference in three-point shooting, where Westmont made eight of 17 and Concordia made just three of 17.
 
With Westmont's six-game homestand coming to an end the Warriors will now hit the road for a Wednesday night game in Costa Mesa, where Westmont will renew their rivalry with Vanguard at 7:30 p.m.