KANSAS CITY —Sean Harman scored 22 points, and Westmont outscored William Carey 27-18 in the last 10 minutes of the second half to pull away for a 74-60 win in a first-round game at the NAIA National Tournament on Thursday.
The Warriors will next face No. 1 and unbeaten LSU-Alexandria on Friday at 2 p.m. (PDT).
Westmont struggled on three-point shooting (6 of 28), but it did a great job protecting the ball. The Warriors committed only eight turnovers in the game and outscored William Carey 16-7 off turnovers.
The Warriors battled back from a 12-point deficit in the first half.
“I think the main thing is not to get anxious,” said Westmont head coach John Moore in response to his team’s early deficit. “I tried to be as calm as I could be and tell the guys, ‘It’s going to come, let’s not be worried or nervous.’ Sam’s (Bentz) big three at the end of the first half gave us some momentum going into halftime.”
The score was tied at 44-44 when Westmont went on an 11-4 run. The Warriors (25-7) went up by 11 (66-56) when Harman and Hayden Anderson scored back-to-back layups with three minutes to play. Anderson scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds and Samuel Bentz added 11 points and three assists
Harman had a stellar game, making 8 of 12 shots, including 4 three-pointers. He also had four assists.
Ashton Woodson led William Carey (24-8) with 16 points. Terrance Mujahid grabbed 16 rebounds before fouling out.