BOX SCORE
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Though the Sea Lions never trailed, Saturday GSAC tilt at Westmont was battle from start to finish. Point Loma Nazarene was pursued all night by the Warriors, but finished strong to claim a 71-60 win in Murchison Gym.
PLNU ups their season record to 4-3 overall and are now 2-0 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. The Warriors fell to 5-3, 0-2 GSAC.
The Sea Lions quickly rolled out to at 14-4 lead before the Warriors temporarily stemmed the PLNU tide with an 8-4 run. Wil Bush sank a pair of threes on back-to-back possessions to set off another Sea Lion burst as Loma pushed ahead by 13 with seven minutes to play.
Four minutes would pass before the next points were recorded – a three by Westmont's Landon Boucher. A PLNU turnover and a Warrior bucket closed the deficit to eight but the Sea Lions got back on track after a Robbie McDaniel jumper and a Rhett Beal dunk. WC's Preston Branson hit a trey for the final points of the low-scoring half and PLNU went into the break in front, 33-24.
The Warriors closed to within seven after a Blake Bender layup to start the second stanza. Two free throws and a jumper from James Hancock – the first field goal from PLNU in nearly four minutes – put the Sea Lions back in business and increased the team's lead to 11.
Point Loma later took a 13-point lead. A three by Bender and a Branson jumper began a Warrior comeback, however. A Sea Lion turnover led to another WC layup and a 39-34 score. Bush netted a much-needed triple for PLNU.
The two sides traded free throws for the next two points. Hancock made good on a three-point play, which managed to keep the Warriors temporarily at bay. Six unanswered points – all by Branson, pulled Westmont to within one of the visiting Sea Lions midway into the second.
The Sea Lions were having trouble making field goals in the second; fortunately they made up for it at the stripe. The Warriors were finding their range from downtown, though. Four PLNU free throws were followed by a pair of WC threes to make the score 51-50 Point Loma. Beal made two more from the line and Hancock snapped six missed Loma shots with a bucket at 6:23.
Two more free throws put the Sea Lions up by seven with five to go. Point Loma would widen the lead to double-figures two minutes later. Greg Murray sank two from the stripe – the 16th and 17th for Point Loma – and then sealed the win with an emphatic dunk at the 1:40 mark.
Still, the Warriors refused to quit, but it was too-little-too-late and the Sea Lions continued to go to the line, eventually making 22-of-33, and triumphed by 11.
PLNU shot 46 percent and held Westmont to a 35 percent average. WC made good on nine threes to five from the Sea Lions.
Beal paced to PLNU attack with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Klassen added 13 points with both Murray and Hancock adding 11. Bush contributed nine points to the win.
Branson led the Warriors with 22 points. Bender scored 16 and pulled in 11 boards.
The Sea Lions head to Costa Mesa on Tuesday to take on Vanguard. Tip-off for the GSAC tilt is 7:30 pm.
