A 17-3 first-half run helped No. 11 Point Loma Nazarene hand Westmont’s men’s basketball team a Golden State Athletic Conference road loss Saturday, 78-67. The Warriors outscored the Sea Lions, 41-39, in the second frame, but could not overcome the 39-26 halftime deficit.
Junior guard Tyler Dutton racked up 19 points, six rebounds and four steals for Westmont (8-7, 2-5), and sophomore point guard Andrew Schmalbach added 15 points, three rebounds and three assists. Freshman forward Blake Bender contributed nine points and three rebounds.
Injury limited senior guard Josh Ware to six minutes of play and foul trouble kept freshman forward Dan Rasp on the bench for more than half the contest. Rasp had seven points — far below his season average of 15.1 per game — and five rebounds. Junior Nasa Sete also struggled for playing time, fouling out after 17 minutes on the court.
The Warriors’ 28 personal fouls compared to 18 for the Sea Lions. Point Loma (14-3, 5-2) also held a turnover advantage (22-14) but the Warriors won the battle of the boards, 35-32.
Point Loma ended with five players in double figures, led by Brian Ormon with 13 points. Ormon also had a team-high seven rebounds. Casey Ortiz and Josh Sanderson each added 12 points.
In other GSAC games, No. 3 Concordia (15-1, 6-1) won at Biola (10-7, 2-5), 72-58, while Vanguard (11-4, 5-2) defeated Azusa Pacific (10-7, 3-4) in Azusa, 73-68. The Master’s (10-7, 4-3) picked up a 70-47 home victory over Hope International (1-12, 1-6), and Fresno Pacific (13-5, 4-4) won at home, 78-66, over San Diego Christian (4-11, 1-6). Westmont is tied with Biola for eighth place in the conference standings.
On Thursday, the Warriors host Concordia at Murchison Gymnasium. Tip-off is at 7:30 p.m.
Ron Smith is Westmont College‘s sports information director.