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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. --
Rhett Beal's near-perfect shooting night powered Point Loma Nazarene to an 82-68 road upset of NAIA No. 12-ranked Westmont College Saturday night.
Beal tied a career high with game-leading 29 points, shooting 3-4 from the field and a mind-blowing 22-24 from the free throw line, including 13 in a row. The senior also racked up six rebounds and a game-high five assists.
The win moves the Sea Lions to 13-6 overall and 6-4 in conference play. The Warriors dropped to 15-4 overall, 7-3 GSAC, which puts them in a four-way tie for the GSAC lead with PLNU just one game back.
The Sea Lions used a huge second half to extract revenge against a tough Warriors squad that handed the team their first home loss of the season back in December.
Senior
Wil Bush added 13 points, and junior
Todd Campbell posted a near double-double of nine points and eight rebounds to help snap a two-game GSAC losing streak.
The Green and Gold shot just 42 percent on the night but absolutely dominated on the glass, outrebounding the Warriors by a margin of 46-24. Chris Miller led the Warriors with five rebounds; four different Sea Lions posted six or more.
The Warriors led for most of the first half and held the Sea Lions mostly at bay. However, the hosts could not stretch their lead larger than five, and the Sea Lions eventually made them pay.
Beal tied the game at 18-18, knocking down a pair of free throws with seven minutes until halftime. Westmont made a push to keep their advantage, but with just under four minutes to play the Westmont bench was whistled for a technical foul, allowing the Sea Lions to take the lead for good on another set of free throws from Beal.
Westmont stayed within striking distance for the rest of the frame, but the Sea Lions entered the break up 33-28.
Leading by just five points at halftime, the Sea Lions opened the second half with an 8-2 run and never looked back.
A brief five-point spurt by the Warriors cut the gap to five with 13 minutes to play, but sophomore
Hayden Lescault converted a three-point play to cap an 8-1 run that gave the Sea Lions a double-digit lead.
Lescault, who finished the game with seven points and seven boards, was back in the starting lineup after receiving stitches in his forehead after a collision in Tuesday's home loss to Concordia.
The Sea Lions would see their lead stretch to as much as 18 points with just over two minutes remaining after yet another pair of free throws from Beal.
With the game largely out of reach, Westmont made one final run. But Beal silenced the Warriors with five free throws in the final two minutes, and the Sea Lions moved into second place in the GSAC.
Preston Branson and Cooper Damron scored 13 points apiece to lead the Warriors, who entered the contest in sole possession of first place in the conference.
On Tuesday, the Sea Lions will face cross-town rival San Diego Christian College in El Cajon. The game tips off at 7:30 pm.