Men’s basketball dominated by Westmont Warriors

The men’s basketball team’s five-game winning streak ended Tuesday with a loss against Westmont College.

Zachary Fu, Writer • February 8, 2012

NAIA No. 9 Westmont College snapped the Biola men’s basketball team’s five-game winning streak with a an 84-61 win on Tuesday night. Biola’s defense fell victim to Westmont’s hot shooting, which was powered by the Golden State Athletic Conference leading scorer, junior Preston Branson. He torched the Eagles on 7-12 shooting and 8-8 from the free throw line. His 22 points in the game also made him the thirty-eighth Warrior to surpass the 1,000-point mark for his career. The leading scorers for Biola were junior Chase Adams who had 15 points, and senior Davey Hopkins with 11.

The first half was very close, with neither team leading by more than four at any point. The game entered halftime with Biola ahead 37-35.

Warriors find groove in second half, win by 23

Westmont burst out of the halftime break with a basket by Branson to tie up the score. A minute later, they took the lead with a free throw by senior Nate Gibbs, who followed that up by scoring five straight points. Once the Eagles lost the lead, they could not seem to find the basket, missing four consecutive shots — three of which were within three feet of the basket. Eight minutes into the second half, Westmont had gone from being down by two points, to being ahead by 15 with the score 60-45. The Eagles tried to make a comeback during the rest of the game, but instead, found themselves down by 23 in the closing minute of playing time.

The biggest statistical difference between the teams was the enormous difference in each team’s shooting percentages for the game. Biola made 35 percent of their field goals, 27 percent of their 3-pointers and 52 percent of their free throws. This is in stark contrast to Westmont who made 58 percent of their field goals, 66 percent of their 3-pointers and 88 percent of their free throws.