#14 Westmont Men’s Basketball jumped out to a 13 points lead in the first half, but couldn’t make it stand up as the Warriors fell to Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday night by a score of 72-64. The loss brought to an end an eight-game home court winning streak by the Warriors, dating back to last season.

“It was a very disappointing loss after finally getting in the national rankings and then losing two in a row,” said Westmont head coach John Moore, referring to Tuesday’s loss at Biola.

“I thought we played super for the first 15-17 minutes of the game, but we didn’t finish the half well,” said Moore. “If we had just finished the half, I think we would have broken their backs a little bit.”

Westmont started the game with an 11-2 run in the first three minutes and 40 seconds which included three-pointers by senior Tyler Dutton and junior Andrew Schmalbach. But over the next six and one-half minutes, the Warriors were held scoreless.

Fortunately for the Warriors, Point Loma managed only five points during that stretch, producing an 11-7 score midway through the first half. Westmont turned on the scoring mechanism again and by the time the first half clock read 3:39, the Warriors were sporting a 30-17 advantage. The rest of the half, however, belonged to the Sea Lions whose 13-2 run pulled Point Loma to within two points at the intermission (32-30).

The score remained close throughout the early going of the second half. Tied at 48 points apiece with eight minutes to play, Point Loma put a bit of separation between themselves and the Warriors with a modest 6-0 run. It proved to be more than the Warriors could overcome.

“Point Loma executed down the stretch better than we did,” acknowledged Moore. “They got to the free throw lines. We had some unfortunate, silly fouls both in the first half and the second half that gave them free shots. That’s not like the Warrior team we have been coaching all season long.”

Westmont pulled within four points (61-57) on a jumper by sophomore forward Dan Rasp (18 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists) with 2:54 left in regulation, but Point Loma’s Dean Colbray (4 points, 4 rebounds) responded with a basket from long distance to restore a seven point lead to the Sea Lions (57-64).

“We couldn’t get stops late in the game. The big basket by Colbray was clutch. We had defended him well throughout the game.”

Scoring in double-digits for the Warriors was Andrew Schmalbach who tallied 15 points and four rebounds. He also had three steals.

Point Loma was led by Rhett Beal and Craig Austin who each scored 14 points. Curtis Carlson added 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Westmont returns to action on Tuesday night when they host #8 Fresno Pacific who is undefeated in conference play and boasts an overall record of 14-3. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

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