Riverside, Calif. - West Coast Baptist College mounted a late comeback to escape with an 87-85 win over the Golden Eagles in tonight's non-conference game. It was a break from Cal Pac play for La Sierra, who recognized the four seniors (CJ Goldsmith, Isaiah Hawkins, Ian Mozeleski, and Courland Wharton) prior to the game. The loss dropped the men's basketball team to 2-19 overall.
West Coast Baptist quickly took control of the game by jumping out to a 20-8 lead. The Golden Eagles answered the bell and cut the lead to 20-18 with the help of a 10-0 run, over a three-minute span.
With 8:34 remaining in the first half, Isaiah Hawkins connected on one of his four three-point shots, tying the score at 26-26. But it was West Coast Baptist who put together a timely 9-4 run over the final 2:43 of the half to take a 42-37 lead into the half.
The Golden Eagles quickly erased the lead in the opening minutes of the second half and finally took their first lead of the half, 58-57, on a Hawkins field goal with 12:14 to play.
Over the next four minutes of play, the Golden Eagles pushed out to their largest lead of the night, 76-66 with 7:11 remaining.
Trailing 79-71, West Coast Baptist's Imaan Vicente connected for his first three-pointer of the night, cutting the lead to 79-74 with 3:39 on the game clock. Mozeleski quickly answered back with one of his four three-point field goals, only to have Vicente come right back to answer with his second of the night, and yet again trimming the lead to five points, 82-77.
After two consecutive missed field goal attempts by the Golden Eagles, which were sandwiched between two consecutive put-backs by WCBC, La Sierra clung to an 82-81 lead with 1:57 to play.
Hawkins subsequently fouled out after being whistled for an offensive foul, as WCBC overtook the lead on a lay-up by Mark Rasmussen. It was a lead they would never relinquish.
Kevin Batiste gave the Golden Eagles an opportunity in the final seconds, after he drained his first attempted three-point shot of the season, which cut the lead to 86-65 with :06 on the clock. After a La Sierra foul, David Sisson made one of two free throw attempts, allowing the Golden Eagles a chance to send the game into overtime or win it with a three.
With four seconds remaining, La Sierra had to go the length of the floor. La Sierra found Mozelski who got a great look at the basket, and while his attempt for the win was right on line it glanced off the front of the rim just short.
West Coast Baptist finished the game 22-for-38 from the free-throw line, but connected on 4-of-6 free throws in the final minute, enough to secure the victory.
Despite the loss, the Golden Eagles shot an impressive 12-of-23 from beyond the arc. Hawkins led the team in scoring with 18 points, followed by Mozelski who added 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, including 4-of-9 from the three-point line. Andre Marquez and Goldsmith each scored 10 points of their own; with Goldsmith adding a team-high eight rebounds.
The good news is that the men's basketball team will now set their sights on their final three Cal Pac Conference games of the regular season where they still control their own fate. They currently sit in the fourth and final playoff position heading into the home stretch. On Saturday night, the team will travel to the University of California – Merced whom they defeated, 85-74, in their first meeting of the season.
