Dan Rasp scored 25 points and pulled down six rebounds as Westmont Men’s Basketball recorded an 82-61 Golden State Athletic Conference win over the Royals of Hope International on Saturday at Murchison Gymnasium. As a result of the victory, the Warriors improved to 15-7 on the year and 7-6 in GSAC play.

“Danny played the way he has played a good portion of his career,” said Westmont Head Coach John Moore. “Before the game, I said to the team, ‘Do you notice that when Dan gets a lot of shots early in the game how our lead goes from six to sixteen really quick? So let’s get Dan lots of shots early in the game and Dan, let’s have you be a little more aggressive.’ He was very aggressive. We looked for him and we found him.”

The 6-5 junior forward is averaging 13.9 points per game this season which is a bit of a dip from last year when he averaged 16.0 and even his freshman year when he put up 14.1 points per contest.

Asked about the change in Rasp’s production, Moore said, “We are a much, much better team this year. We are much better because Blake Bender is a much greater threat, Evan Haines is a bigger threat and CJ is a much bigger threat. John Miller is having his career season and Matt LeDuc has been very, very good. Andrew has been consistently good throughout his career and early in this season was hitting at a very high percentage from the three-point line. Dan is the kind of guy who is going to be encouraged by his teammates’ success and wants to let them have their touches.”

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Westmont Men’s Basketball made 72% of their shots in the first half (13 of 18) and took an 11 point lead into the intermission (44-33), but it wasn’t enough to defeat #4 Concordia (21-2, 11-2 GSAC) on the Eagles’ home court. The 84-77 Golden State Athletic Conference loss drops the Warriors to 14-7 overall and 6-6 in conference play.

Down by a point early in the first half, Westmont went on a 15-2 run to take a 21-9 advantage. A three-point bomb by senior guard Matt LeDuc started off the Warriors’ run which was capped by a jumper from junior forward Dan Rasp. For the fourth game in a row, LeDuc led the Warriors in scoring by posting 17 points. Eight of his points came at the charity stripe off of nine attempts. Rasp tallied 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field and pulled down eight rebounds.

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#22 Westmont Men’s Basketball turned in a dominating performance over San Diego Christian (5-16, 3-8 GSAC) on Saturday night at Murchison Gymnasium in a 79-62 Golden State Athletic Conference victory over the Hawks. San Diego was coming off an 80-75 win over #2 Concordia on Tuesday night.

Senior forward John Miller produced 15 points and pulled down seven rebounds in the win. The Warriors improved to 14-6 overall and 6-5 in GSAC play.

“I thought John Miller was special,” said the Warriors’ Head Coach John Moore. “He helped us create the kind of energy we wanted to create against a team that is playing very good basketball. They have won three of their last four games and they shoot very well from the three-point line. We held them to one-of-nine in the first half from three-point range.”

By halftime, the Warriors had put together a 24 point lead (43-19) and were in control of the game.

“We set the tone early,” said Moore. “Blake Bender’s defense was very special, especial in the first half. He held their leading scorer (Tyler Mutton) to five points in the first half. Blake led us defensively and John led us offensively, especially from an energy standpoint.

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It took an extra five minutes of play to settle that matter between two long-term rivals but in the end, Azusa Pacific defended their home court with an 86-83 overtime win against #22 Westmont Men’s Basketball. Matt LeDuc led the Warriors in scoring for the second game in a row, tallying 20 points to go with eight rebounds. Dan Rasp posted a double-double for the Warriors consisting of 16 points and 11 rebounds.

“What an effort our guys gave tonight,” said Westmont Head Coach John Moore. “A great indicator of effort is how we rebound the ball and we almost got 50 rebounds tonight. Danny led us with 11, John Miller (6 points, 7 rebounds) had a great rebounding game. Blake Bender (9 points, 11 rebounds) was outstanding. Matt LeDuc and John Miller played superb basketball in what was a homecoming for them. All the way across the board the guys who stepped on the floor for us were very, very good.

After a tough road loss at Fresno Pacific last Tuesday night, Westmont Men’s Basketball demonstrated a new resolve in an 86-77 Golden State Athletic Conference victory over Vanguard (4-11, 3-6 GSAC) on Saturday night in Murchison Gymnasium. The twenty-first ranked Warriors (13-5, 5-4 GSAC) were led in scoring by senior guard Matt LeDuc who tallied a career-high 23 points while making 10 of 12 attempts from the floor. He also pulled down seven rebounds.

“It was a great victory,” said LeDuc. “Guys got me the ball quickly in a position where I could get 23 points. It was a blast out there and a good team win.”

LeDuc, who moved into a starting role for tonight’s game, was clearly inspired.

“Tuesday night we had a tough night against Fresno (Pacific),” acknowledged LeDuc. “We had a meeting right after the game and the four captains spoke of what we wanted from this season and what we want for each other. CJ’s (Chris Jackson’s) words really hit it deep for us. He cares so much he was almost tearing up. All of us were felling it. It was such an emotional moment. I think something changed at that point. It showed tonight – we went on a lot of runs and we were back scoring high points again. I think we are hitting our stride now.

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A 10-2 Sunbird run at the end of the first half turned out to be the difference in an otherwise close game as #21 Westmont men’s basketball fell to the Sunbirds of Fresno Pacific (14-4, 4-4 GSAC). With the loss, Westmont falls to 12-5 overall and 4-4 in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings.

With four and one-half minutes left in the first frame, the Sunbirds’ James Lewis (13 points) was fouled on a three-point shot and made all three attempts from the charity stripe to start Fresno Pacific’s run. Todd Brown added two three-point buckets in the run and Lewis added another free throw.

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It took two overtime periods, but #22 Westmont Men’s Basketball left San Diego with a 69-66 Golden State Athletic Conference win over the Sea Lions of Point Loma Nazarene (5-11, 2-6 GSAC). Junior center Evan Haines led the Warriors with 18 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks – the latter of which sets a new single game record. Haines was seven of 14 from the field.

“We were very fortunate tonight,” said Westmont Head Coach John Moore. “Evan played a monster of a game. He was four of four from the free throw line – the first time he has been perfect from the free throw line and first time he has hit back-to-back free throws all year. He played with a lot of heart.”

Up 29-26 at halftime, the Warriors (12-4, 4-3 GSAC) held a single digit lead throughout the second half. But Rhett Beal (24 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals) hit a three-pointer with 29 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime with the score tied at 50.

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It was an epic battle, but in the end, #4 Biola (16-0, 4-0 GSAC) claimed a 62-43 Golden State Athletic Conference victory over #22 Westmont Men’s Basketball (11-4, 3-3 GSAC) on Saturday night at Murchison Gymnasium.

For the first 30 minutes, the game was a low scoring affair. Halfway through the second period, Westmont held a 29-28 lead. But over the next five minutes, Biola outscored Westmont 15-6 on their way to a 62-43 victory.

“It was a game of ‘first team to get the lid off the basket wins’,” said Westmont Head Coach John Moore. “They are a very good team and tonight they were the more likely team to do that. I thought it was a great college basketball environment. That is what is most disappointing. In these kinds of environments you want to play well from start to finish and we did not find the finish line.

“We played 28 to 30 minutes of good basketball,” continued the coach. “Our guys executed our defensive game plan very well in the first half. But offensively, we were in too much of a frenzy in the first half. The shots we took were a little hurried. In the second half, after taking the lid off, the shots Biola took were very confident.”

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