Westmont Drops Nail-Biter to Hawai‘i Pacific 72-70

A late comeback by the Westmont men’s basketball team fell short as visiting Hawai‘i Pacific escaped Murchison Gymnasium with a 72-70 victory on Thursday night.

Hawai‘i Pacific’s Joshua West drove to the rim with time running down and banked in a runner with 1.4 seconds remaining.

“I think that we executed down the stretch, and we executed in the second half, but the free throw killed us,” said Westmont coach Landon Boucher. “We sent them to the line in the second half.”

Westmont had no answer for Hawai‘i Pacific center Jonas Visser. The 6’10” senior from the Netherlands repeatedly bulldozed his way to the basket and opened up quality opportunities for shooters with his gravity. He finished with 20 points on 9-12 shooting from the field. 

Overall, the Sharks shot 68 percent from the field in the first half and 45.5 percent from the three point line. The hot shooting translated into a 42-37 Hawai‘i Pacific lead at halftime.

The second half went back and forth as Westmont found its stride offensively. The Warriors were led by Adrian McIntyre, who finished with 22 points on 10-16 shooting from the field. Jarrett Bryant added 19 points on 7-9 shooting from the field, including 3-4 shooting from three-point range.

“[Bryant] has been playing well in the league,” Boucher said. “He’s been taking smart shots, and he played a nice game tonight.”

A three-pointer by Bryant cut the Westmont deficit to 51-50 with 11:52 remaining in the game, but Hawai‘i Pacific responded with a 14-4 run capped off by a basket inside by Visser that increased the Sharks’ lead to 65-54 with 7:01 left in the game.

Despite the double-digit deficit, the Warriors would not quit. A driving layup by McIntyre cut the Westmont deficit to 65-56 and sparked the Warriors’ closing surge.

Mason Romano delivered a nifty pass inside to McIntyre to cut the deficit to 67-63 with 3:10 remaining. 

McIntryre’s heroics continued as he came around a screen and drilled a three-pointer to cut Westmont’s deficit to 69-66 at the 2:30 mark of the fourth quarter.

Westmont finally evened the score at 70-70 with 23 seconds remaining as McIntrye sent the Murchison Gymnasium crowd into a frenzy with a step-back three-pointer. 

“He’s continued to improve,” said Boucher of McIntyre. “I think that the main thing is that we have to continue to take advantage of when he is making others better, because he can make others better so well.”

Unfortunately for Westmont, Hawai‘i Pacific had the ball with the clock running down, and West took advantage with his game-winning shot. 

On Saturday, Westmont will host Chaminade and welcome back past Warrior greats with an alumni event. Tip-off is at 3 p.m.