Matt Ramon pounded the boards for 18 rebounds and scored 15 points to lead Westmont to a 95-90 men’s basketball victory over Life Pacific on Thursday at Murchison Gym, clinching the fifth seeded in next week’s Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament.

Westmont (17-9, 11-7 GSAC) will play fourth-seeded Arizona Christian (23-7, 11-7 GSAC) in the tournament opener next Thursday at William Jessup in Rocklin.

Ramon’s 18 rebounds tied for seventh most all-time in a single game in Westmont history.

“What an unbelievable night Matt Ramon had,” Westmont coach John Moore said. “He just took to heart what we challenged (the players) to do. We told them to get after it on the boards against a team that has been dominated on the boards. He certainly did that.”

DeSean Scott and Olisa Nwachie led Westmont with 19 points apiece with Kyle Scalmanini close behind with 18.

Andre Allen led all scorers with 24 points and Life’s Chez Lister added 21. 

“If I had to give a game-ball I’d give half to Matt Ramon and half to DeSean Scott. What a bounce-back game DeSean had. He played really important minutes for us tonight,” commented Moore.

Life went up by as many as 10 with 9:50 left to play. After a Scott dunk, Westmont called timeout down 67-59.

The timeout proved to be a turning point as Westmont went on a 12-3 run to come within one, 70-69.

Life’s Colin Cunniff would hit a three, but Westmont responded with a huge 13-0 run over the next minute and a half to turn the table. Westmont would lead 82-73 with 4:09 remaining.

Life would bring the game back to a one-possession ball game after a few made free throws and two 3-pointers. Life’s 10 of 15 performance from beyond the arc in the second half was a big reason they were able to stay in the game. 

Gyse Hulsebosch hit four big free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

“I thought Gyse made some important free throws. He made those four that gave us a two-possession lead,” noted Moore.

 In the first round of the GSAC Tournament, sixth-seeded Hope International (19-0, 10-8 GSAC) will play third-seeded William Jessup (21-9, 12-6 GSAC) on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. The winner will play second-seeded Vanguard (25-5, 13-5 GSAC) on Friday at 5 p.m. Fourth-seeded Arizona Christian (23-7, 11-7 GSAC) will play against fifth-seeded Westmont at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday with the winner facing top-seed The Master’s (25-5, 14-4 GSAC) on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

The championship game will be played on Saturday at 6 p.m.