The Westmont men’s basketball team (24-2 overall, 13-1 GSAC), ranked fourth in the NAIA, overcame a slow start against Life Pacific (6-17, 2-11) on Tuesday night to complete an undefeated five-game home stand with a 93-70 victory, its seventh straight win overall.
The Warriors trailed by as many as eight points in the early going. Westmont head coach John Moore attributed the slow start in part to the absence of Cade Roth, who missed the game because of an injury suffered in the win over Menlo on Saturday afternoon.
“It felt a little bumpy without Cade to start the game,” Moore said.
With the Warriors down 15-9, Abram Carrasco scored 10 points in a 16-0 Westmont run to help the GSAC leaders take their first double-digit lead of the game, 25-15.
Westmont led by as many as 19 points in the first half before taking a 15-point advantage into the locker room, 49-34.
Moore credited the play of Gyse Hulsebosch, who scored all 11 of his points in the first half on three for five shooting from 3-point range, in helping the Warriors extend their lead in the opening period.
“I thought Gyse was fantastic in the first half,” Moore said. “Gyse Hulsebosch is so capable as a guy coming off the bench. He hits deep threes and we finally found him. I said to the guys at halftime, I felt like for the first part that Gyse was in there, we were keeping the ball out of his hands, but once we found him it was like the flood gates opened. We surged ahead by a much bigger margin at that point.”
After Life Pacific opened up the second half with two made free throws, Westmont went on a 13-0 run to take a 62-36 lead, aided by its transition to a zone defense.
“I thought our zone was very good in the second half,” Moore said. “I think they went six or eight straight possessions without scoring against the zone.”
The Warriors extended their advantage to a game-high 35 points with 3:28 remaining in regulation before settling for a 23-point victory.