Twelve student-athletes were honored on Thursday night at the Fourteenth Golden Eagle Award Dinner held at Fess Parker’s Doubletree Resort. Referred to as the ‘best night of the year for Westmont Athletics,’ the event is sponsored by the Pacific Beverage Company and Pete and Gerd Jordano.

“It’s even better than our 28-point win over Azusa Pacific,” said associate athletic director and head women’s basketball coach Kirsten McKnight in welcoming the 125 attendees.

Westmont athletic director Dave Wolf served as master of ceremonies for the event and noted that the Westmont staff of head coaches tallied a combined 114 years of experience and that for seven of the coaches, their entire head coaching experience has been at Westmont.

John Moore, head coach for Westmont men’s basketball has announced the signing of Chris Jackson of Campbell, California to play for the Warriors beginning this fall. Jackson, who played for Foothill Community College in Los Altos Hills the last two seasons, is an alumnus of Archbishop Mitty in San Jose. In his senior year of high school, Jackson helped lead his team to the CIF Central Coast Section championship game.

“C.J. is a very special player,” said Moore. “I’m careful using that term and don’t use it frequently. He is the kind of guy who will make this team a whole lot better because he makes the easy plays look easier and he makes the hard plays look regular.”

A skilled ball handler, Jackson posted an assist-to-turnover ration of 2.49. He led the state at the junior college level in steals (3.1 per game) and was second in assists (7.1 per game.).

Fifty or more folks gathered in a class room on the Dos Pueblos High School campus to celebrate as senior Sean Park signed a letter of intent to play for Westmont Men’s Basketball beginning this fall. Park, who helped lead Dos Pueblos to an undefeated Channel League season this year, received an ovation as he signed his name to the papers.

“Westmont had the right combination of basketball and academics,” said Park when asked why he had chosen the liberal arts college located in the Montecito foothills. “I have been working out with players from the team for quite awhile now and everyone has been really great to me. No one has shown me a scent of being mad at me like I was coming in and trying to take their spot. All the players were so kind to me and that was a major part of my decision.”

Freshman forward Dan Rasp tallied 23 points and 9 rebounds as Westmont Men’s Basketball defeated The Master’s (16-14, 10-10) in a thriller at Murchison Gymnasium. The Warriors won by a score of 81-79 with sophomore guard Andrew Schmalbach (11 points), scoring the final points of the game on a three-pointer from the baseline with 4.7 seconds left on the clock.

However the Warriors will not advance to the postseason. The Warriors end the 2007-08 campaign tied with Biola for eighth place in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings. But Biola will advance to the eight-team GSAC Tournament as a result of defeating Azusa Pacific 51-49 and thereby holding the tiebreaker between the two schools.

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Senior Josh Ware led the Warriors with 15 points and five assists and fellow senior Drew Benac recorded a double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) as Westmont Men’s Basketball (14-13, 8-11) posted a much needed 85-54 win over the Royals of Hope International (1-25, 1-18) on senior night at Murchison Gymnasium. The win, coupled with a 77-75 loss by Biola (16-13, 8-11) to #25 Vanguard (19-9, 12-7), moves Westmont into a tie with Biola for eighth place in the Golden State Athletic Conference standings and keeps alive the goal of a berth in the upcoming GSAC Tournament.

Westmont jumped ahead of Hope International early, posting an 18-5 lead seven minutes into the contest. Ware scored nine of Westmont’s first eleven points. Hope International did not get closer than eight points in the first half and Westmont took a 19-point advantage (43-24) into the locker room at halftime.

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Senior point guard Josh Ware produced a career high 21 points but Westmont Men’s Basketball (13-13, 7-11) couldn’t pull off an upset of #6 Concordia (14-4, 15-4) in Irvine on Thursday night. The Warriors lost 91-81 despite shooting 51.8% from the floor and out-rebounding the Eagles 38-31.

Westmont’s challenge was in holding on to the ball. The Warriors committed 26 turnovers and the Eagles made the most of it by recording 31 points off those turnovers. By comparison, Concordia committed 14 turnovers which Westmont turned into 13 points.

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Andrew Schmalbach poured in 16 points while shooting 55% from the floor, but Westmont Men’s Basketball could not keep up with Point Loma Nazarene (19-8, 10-7) on Saturday night. The Warriors lost to the Sea Lions 93-75 in Murchison Gymnasium. Tyler Dutton added 14 points for the Warriors. Dan Rasp and Josh Ware also scored in double figures, scoring 11 and 10 points respectively.

The loss brings Westmont’s Golden State Athletic Conference record to 7-10 (13-12 overall) and puts the Warriors in jeopardy of not making it to the GSAC Tournament. The top eight of eleven teams qualify for post-season play and Westmont currently sits in ninth place - one game behind Biola, a game and one-half behind Fresno Pacific and two games behind The Master’s.

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Up by eight points at halftime, Biola (16-10, 8-8) put together a 13-4 run to start the second half to jump out to a 44-27 lead four minutes into the second half. Westmont Men’s Basketball (13-11, 7-9) was unable to fully recover from the deficit and lost by a final score of 72-66 in La Mirada.

Westmont did make it interesting as the game came to a conclusion. Down by ten (70-60) with a minute and 15 seconds remaining, Junior Tyler Dutton (6 points, 2 rebounds) reduced the Eagles advantage to single digits when he made one of two free throw attempts. Thirty seconds later, sophomore Andrew Schmalbach (9 points, 2 rebounds), drained a three-pointer to make it a six point game (70-64).

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