Westmont Men’s Basketball (10-7, 7-4 PacWest) rattled off their fourth-consecutive win on Thursday night in Honolulu, as an 88-69 victory over the Hawaii Pacific Sharks (11-5, 7-4) clinched the Warriors a winning road trip.
Westmont snapped HPU’s five-game winning streak entering the night, while also giving the home team only their second loss on their home floor this season.
“It was one of those games where going into it, you know you are going to face a good team,” said Westmont head coach Justin Leslie. “HPU is really able to score in bunches, and they are a team that can sneak up on you with huge momentum swings.
“It can be quiet, but they are the type of team that somehow ‘quietly’ go on a 20-5 run, if there is such a thing. We studied those kinds of runs this week, just so our guys could see what that kind of run from HPU looks like. They are just really good at finding efficient shots and making something out of nothing. Truth is, I was really nervous going in wondering how we’d be able to guard them.”
Guarding HPU was not a successful part of the equation in the first half, with the Sharks shooting over 50% from the field. However, with the Warriors shooting over 60% from the field in the first half, the club had a 46-39 lead, and the time to refocus on their game-plan.
“After halftime the conversation was about how it was time to dig our heels in and guard,” noted Leslie. “We needed to make a stand and we did, allowing them only 30 points on their home floor. Obviously we shot the ball really well, but I was just so pleased with our defensive effort in the second half.”
While the coach sees the big picture, the other story of the night was indeed the hot shooting of the Warriors, who collectively landed 32 of their 58 field goal attempts (55.2%).
A huge part of Westmont’s scoring boost came from beyond the arc, where the club entered the night shooting just 30.5%. Tonight, Westmont made 12 of 27 from three-point range (44.4%), with three different Warriors each landing a trio of three’s.
Jarrett Bryant, who led all scorers with 21 points, made three of five from long range while overall shooting nine of 14 on the night. Braedon Bigott scored 20 points on eight of 12 shootings, with three of his field goals coming from three-point range in four attempts.
Aidan Mandel did not all miss a single attempt from the field in the first half, and also made three different shots from long-range over the course of the contest. In total, Mandel finished with 18 points and six rebounds.
As a group, all ten Warriors who appeared on Thursday night gathered at least one field goal. Fifteen of Westmont’s 32 makes came off of assists, with another four from Trey Thompson leading the way.
Westmont took advantage of their trips to the line as well, where the Warriors made 12 of 15. JV Brown connected on all six of his attempts from the charity stripe, while Mandel made five of seven.
Westmont led 46-39 after that first-half shootout, but would lead by as many as 24 in the second as the Sharks failed to keep up. Westmont out-rebounded HPU 35-22 on the night, with Westmont tallying 21 second-chance points off of their 15 offensive rebounds.
“It is hard to lose games when you make 12 three-pointers,” acknowledged Leslie. “The best part for me was how we finished the game 13 of 17 at the rim, and nine of 15 on inside-out three’s. We got so many good looks tonight, and a lot of times so far this year, we just haven’t made those shots. I was really proud of those guys tonight for stepping up and making those shots.
“I was proud of the way they presented themselves tonight, that’s for sure.”
Westmont’s final game on the islands will be on Saturday afternoon against the Chaminade Silverswords.