Westmont Men’s Basketball (6-6, 3-3 PacWest) played the Vanguard Lions (7-5, 3-2) close for 20 minutes on Tuesday night in Costa Mesa, but it was the second half that quickly got away from the Warriors in an eventual 80-64 defeat.

The first half was highlighted in part by the efficient offensive play of senior Jarrett Bryant, who scored 10 points on a perfect four-of-four from the field. JV Brown also found himself in double-figures after 20 minutes, as the southpaw made four field goals that included two makes from beyond the arc.

In total, eight of the nine Warriors that saw the floor in the first half all found the bottom of the rim, but the most promising development came on the other side of the ball. Westmont out-boarded Vanguard 23-9 during the first half, with the Warriors inflating their rebounding total thanks to nine on the offensive end. It was not just one player, either, as six different Warriors had grabbed an offensive rebound during the first period of action.

On the other end some hot shooting from beyond the arc (6-14), kept the Lions right on the Warriors’ heel heading into intermission, with Westmont maintaining a slim 34-31 advantage.

“In the first half, I thought we played one of our better defensive halves of the year,” reflected head coach Justin Leslie. “We put them in some really tough situations, and we really did a fantastic job rebounding the basketball. Going into the second half, I thought we put ourselves in a good position.”

Immediately into the second half, however, the Warriors experienced a jarring dry-spell on the offensive end, with a pair of unforced turnovers lowlighting an 11-0 run that Westmont conceded to start the half (42-34).It took Westmont nearly five minutes to score in the second period, when a bucket from Trey Thompson finally got the ball rolling once more.

“We knew that anytime Vanguard goes down, they’re going to come out with more defensive pressure,” explained Leslie, “and that’s exactly what they did. We just didn’t handle that on the offensive end, and since we didn’t experience offensive success, we didn’t really go back with a lot of defensive grit and resolve.

“It allowed Vanguard to really build some momentum on the offensive side of the ball.”

The Warriors would eventually go down a dozen (50-38) leading into a media timeout at the 11:46-mark, with the Lions running off a 19-4 run across the first chunk of the second period. The next four minutes offered no solace for the Warriors, who trailed then by 16 at the penultimate media timeout (59-43). After a modest but manageable 43.8% mark in the first half, Westmont made just four of 14 field goal attempts (28.6%) across the first 12 minutes of the second. Also disappearing was the club’s rebound advantage, with Vanguard out-boarding Westmont 11-9 across that stretch.

The deficit would not seem many dents during the final stretch of action, as Vanguard would keep Westmont at more than arm’s distance in the Lion’s eventual 80-64 win. After holding the Lions to 31 in the first half, Westmont allowed an additional 49 to Vanguard on 17 of 31 shooting (54.8%) after halftime. The Lions ended up out-rebounding Westmont 17-10 in the second half, while also scoring 10 points off of seven Warrior turnovers.

“A lot of their shot making was a result of them driving us one-on-one,” noted Leslie, “and that was one of our big keys going into the game that we had to execute. In the second half, we just didn’t.”

After a 3-1 PacWest record heading into Christmas break, two post-New Year’s losses see the Warriors dip back to .500 in conference play.

“This is part of the maturation process of a program,” assured Leslie. “You’re going to have to learn how to handle success, and how to follow up your successes. I asked the guys after the game about some of their thoughts regarding what we are dealing with right now. A couple guys actually alluded to how we went into the break with some success, and that perhaps, we just expected that to continue.

“This is a young group. This group has not only not been together long, but for a lot of them, this is their first time playing significant minutes in college basketball. It’s part of the learning process to experience these highs and lows throughout the course of a season.”

Leslie concluded, “We are still a good team. We are still a team that can play and beat anyone, but the reality is, if we don’t show up, we can lose just as easily. This team is learning that that is a reality of sport, and that we have to handle our business day in and day out if we want to experience success as a team.”

The Warriors will have three nights to regroup before a drive up to Fresno on Saturday, where they will take on the Sunbirds at 4:15 p.m.