Riverside, Calif. - The men's basketball team lost a heartbreaker in overtime to #14 Westmont College, 83-81 this past Saturday night. The loss dropped the Golden Eagles to 1-10 on the season with the start of Cal Pac conference play just around the corner.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with the Warriors enjoying the largest lead in the half, at 11-4, six and a half minutes into play. The Golden Eagles quickly closed the gaps with back-to-back three point makes by Nikko Turner and Kyle Hamilton. Neither team enjoyed more than a three point lead for the remainder of the half, with the Golden Eagles enjoying a slight 37-36 advantage at the break.
The Warriors quickly regained the lead, 49-44, with the help of a 13-7 run to start the second half. But the Golden Eagles answered back with a 6-0 run to take a 50-49 lead. With the score tied at 50-50 with 12:52 remaining in the game, Westmont put together a 20-8 run, taking control of the game and pushing out to a 70-58 lead with five minutes left in the game. But the Golden Eagles weren't about to go away just yet. Over the final five minutes of regulation, La Sierra held Westmont to just two points, while chipping away at the Warriors advantage, until Gerald Williams tied the game with a clutch three-point shot that ultimately sent the game into overtime.
In the overtime period, the Warriors regained the lead by scoring the first eight points to take an 80-72 advantage. But once again, the Golden Eagles fought back over the next three minutes, pulling within two points, 81-79, on two made free-throws by Keenan Braden, with a minute to play. After a missed field goal by the Warriors and a subsequent Golden Eagles timeout, it was a swing of emotions that eventually brought this game to an end.
Golden Eagles guard saw an opening to attack the basket but his attempt to tie the game, glanced off the backboard and rolled just off of the front of the rim into the waiting hands of Braden who tied the game with a thunderous put-back slam with just under 10 seconds left on the game clock. With both teams out of timeouts, the Warriors quickly inbounded the ball to Britton Williams who went the left of the floor and floated the ball over two Golden Eagles defenders, off the glass and into the basket for the win.
Despite the loss, Braden finished with a career night and a double-double consisting of 23 points and 15 rebounds, along with two blocks and two steals. Andre Marquez added 17 points and six rebounds, while Lance Jones finished with 15 points, four rebounds, and three blocked shots. Also scoring in double figures was Williams who tallied 10 points.
The men's basketball team will now turn their focus to Embry-Riddle University (AZ) as they open Cal Pac play, at the Alumni Pavilion, on Thursday evening at 6pm. Embry-Riddle is currently winless in their inaugural season. This will be the first meeting ever between the two schools in men's basketball.
