By Jacob Norling
February 12, 2025
 
(AZUSA, Calif.) Westmont Men's Basketball (11-13, 9-7 PacWest) continued to carry their momentum over on Wednesday night against Azusa Pacific (12-13, 7-10), where the Warriors won their fourth in a row by a score of 88-68. Just two weeks ago the Warriors ended January 5-9 in conference play, but a perfect February so far has made Westmont Basketball must-see TV as we sprint towards the finish line.
 
"We've had a few seasons like this as of late," said Westmont head coach Landon Boucher, "where we've made runs at the end and played our best basketball. This team is super in rhythm right now. They are playing for each other, and you can see it by the way we are defending. Then, offensively, we are just finding our rhythm more and more as the season goes on.
 
"This is another game that is a big confidence booster, and we are going to need that heading into the next stretch."
 
While the Warriors threatened the century mark thanks to five extra minutes on Saturday, Westmont was slow out of the gate offensively come Wednesday. After McIntyre's 51-point outburst the scouting report could not have been more predictable as the Warriors' senior guard faced more double and triple-teams than he had in weeks.
 
What APU did not realize was that they needed to pay the same attention to Westmont ascending freshman guard, De'Undrae Perteete. Perteete may be flying under the radar to Westmont's opponents, but in the Westmont Basketball community, Perteete is quickly becoming one of the faces of the program. Westmont's slow start saw them trailing 25-20 with 5:30 remaining in the first half on Wednesday. Two minutes later, a three from Perteete saw the club draw even at 27.
 
After McIntyre got loose for a three-ball of his own, Perteete sent the Cougars into a timeout at Westmont flipped the script to take a 32-27 lead. Following a basket from Aidan Mandel, Westmont's next possession saw the Cougars press McIntyre with a double-team right at midcourt. McIntyre then hurled the ball up the floor to a wide open Perteete, the man the Cougars just could not keep track of during the first half. Perteete then landed his fourth three-pointer of the half to give him 16 points, and to give the Warriors an eight-point lead. After one more basket from Mandel, who took advantage of his six first-half minutes, the Warriors went into the locker room up 39-31. The Warriors closed the first half on a 19-6 run in the period's final five minutes.
 
Adrian McIntyre started the second half by converting both ends of an old-fashioned three-point play. In fact, McIntyre not only made it a three-point play, but a four-point play, after the referees upgraded the foul to flagrant-one. At that point, Westmont 43-31 with 19 minutes left to play. Perteete added insult to injury one possession later by connecting on his fifth three-pointer of the night, giving him 19 points not even two minutes into the second half. It was then Drew Ramirez' turn to hit one from long range, as the captain's long-ball put Westmont up 49-33 to quickly put APU on the ropes.
 
At the 12:30 mark, McIntyre rattled off five consecutive unanswered points, stretching Westmont's lead to 56-39. Ninety seconds later, Perteete set a new career-high with 22 points after hitting yet another shot from three-point land, his sixth of the night. Building on his career night, Perteete shortly thereafter converted his seventh look from beyond the arc. One trip to the free throw line later, Perteete had himself 27 points, and had the Warriors up 66-48 with 8:45 remaining.
 
If the coffin had not yet been nailed shut, McIntyre hammered it home with 4:49 remaining, when he once again wore contact, finished the layup, and converted the ensuing free throw to put Westmont up 75-58. Perteete in the game's final minutes the finishing touches on a spectacular night when he first made a short-range bucket to give himself 31 points. One possession later, Perteete made himself just the sixth player in Westmont history to make eight three-pointers in a game, giving the Warriors' newest star 34 points as the game entered its final minute. A minute later, Perteete was the latest Warriors to receive a hug from just about every one of his teammates as Westmont finished off their fourth in a row by an even 20 points. Perteete's eight three-pointers was the most by any Warrior in a single game in 20 years.
 
"Wow," was Boucher's reaction when read that stat.
 
Boucher continued, "Dre stepped up big time. They were really sitting on Adrian in the first half, and not just Adrian, but our whole team responded by making the right passes. I think there's a reason that teams haven't doubled Adrian this far, and it's because other guys are going to step up.
 
"Dre was that guy tonight. He has been putting in a lot of time in the gym, working on his shooting, and that showed tonight. It's great to see how these guys are reacting to each other's success, and it looked like our guys were having fun with it tonight."
 
McIntyre followed up his 51-point game with another 31-point game thanks to a torrid second half. Next time Adrian takes the floor, he will be 29 points shy of tying Westmont's all-time single-season scoring record.
 
"Adrian was fantastic again tonight," assured Boucher. "He just let the game come to him. I'm not sure if he scored in the first four minutes of the game, before the first timeout, but he's just so patient. He trusts his teammates, and he trusts that the game will come to him. It was another really mature performance where he just took shots and let his teammates find him.
 
"I think Mason Romano in particular did really well in the second half, not only defensively, but he had eight assists too. We just continue to look for each other, and find each other for open shots."
 
Westmont will look to make it five wins in a row when they make their way up to the bay area on Saturday for a 3:30 affair with Academy of Art. On Wednesday, February 19, at 7:30 p.m., the Warriors will celebrate their senior night against Vanguard in Murchison Gym. Entering Saturday's game, Westmont will be alone in fifth place with a record of 9-7. Chaminade is currently in sixth with a record of 9-9, while Hawaii Pacific is in seventh at 7-7.
 
With a top-six finish, Westmont would earn the program's first berth into the PacWest Tournament.