Westmont Men’s Basketball (9-7, 6-4 PacWest) opened their three-game Hawaii road trip late Tuesday night with a 75-65 win against the Hilo Vulcans (1-15, 1-9). After losing three in a row after Christmas break, the Warriors have now responded by winning three in a row.
“This is a very difficult road trip,” acknowledged Westmont head coach Justin Leslie. “There is obviously the travel and the distance, but for Hilo specifically, the humidity makes this part of the trip so unique. The ball gets slick, the floor gets slick, and it creates all kinds of challenges. The conditions tonight were great by Hilo standards, but it was still challenging, though.
“We had only seven turnovers, and three of them I think were due to the fact that the ball was just wet in our hands. It’s the type of thing where everybody’s jerseys are soaked, so if the ball touches anybody’s jersey, the ball is slick now. That makes you miss a couple shots, or make a couple more turnovers. It’s difficult and it’s different, and anything that is different gets people out of their comfort zones.
“All that to say, regardless of the challenges we just kept battling.”
Both teams shot at least 50% during the first half, with Westmont making exactly half of their field goal attempts (15-30) and Hilo landing 55% of their tries (11-20). Both teams also made four three-pointers during the period, with Hilo making four of their six attempts while Westmont had lesser luck landing four of 13.
The final of these attempts, however, was a first-half buzzer-beater from Braedon Bigott, who sent the Warriors into the locker room leading 38-30. Bigott, who led his team with nine first half points, also tallied four rebounds during the opening period.
While the three-ball came and went for Westmont, it was once again their scoring in the paint that allowed them to build a lead, as they outscored the Vulcans 18-8 down low. The Warriors also shared the basketball well once again during the opening period, as nine different Warriors converted their 15 first-half field goals.
A frustrating early note for Hilo was the fact Westmont forced nine turnovers for the home team, with the Warriors turning those near double-digit turnovers into 16 points in the first half.
“We talk a lot about owning the fact that we are a difficult team to play,” said Leslie. “It’s not anything super special, but it’s different enough to present a challenge to other teams, especially on short turnarounds. So many of those turnovers we got in the first half was the result of just being in position off the ball and having your hands up.
“It’s not like the guy on the ball was just taking it from the man with it. It was actually the ability of our team defense to be disruptive.”
The deficit really started to widen early in the second half, when a Chase Collins three-pointer made it 46-33 before the first media timeout. Immediately after the first media stoppage, Davon Smith added one more from beyond the arc (49-35).
Heading into the game’s penultimate media timeout, however, a layup from Michael Olay finally brought an end to what turned out to be a 12-0 run for Hilo, making it a 55-50 game. Olaly’s basket put the Warriors back up seven, before another bucket from Jarrett Bryant gave the senior double-digits and the Warriors a nine point lead back (6:45).
Coming out of the game’s final planned timeout Westmont led by seven with just a tick under four minutes to play (61-54). A minute later, it was suddenly a two-possession game (63-57), before Aidan Mandel buried a three-pointer from the top of the key to take the wind out of the Vulcans’ sails for a moment. Hilo then promptly responded by landing a three of their own, making it 66-60 with two minutes to play.
With under a minute to play Hilo trailed by six with a chance to make it a four-point game. Mandel, however, rejected that idea at the rim. Hilo would never again legitimately threaten to cut into the deficit, as the Warriors sealed their first game of the road trip at the free throw line for a 75-65 final.
“We ended up having 12 more field attempts than them,” Leslie pointed out. “We didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, they shot it better. When you shoot 12 more shots, and you get to the free throw line six times more, it’s just going to put you in a favorable position.”
Individually, Bryant led Westmont with 17 on eight of 11 shooting, while Mandel added 15 of his own to go along with five boards and a pair of steals. Bigott also finished with double-digits, as the transfer collected 12 points to go along with six rebounds and a couple assists.
Westmont’s Hawaii road trip will continue against Hawaii Pacific on Thursday night, where the Warriors will pursue their fourth-consecutive win as well as a winning road trip.