Thomas, Abdullah Come Up Huge in Warrior Win

By BRANDON PETERSEN

Adofo Thomas has been a Warrior.

He's seen the struggle, and now he's ready to enjoy the success.

Thursday night at Jordan Lawley Center, Thomas simply wouldn't be denied down the stretch and alongside Abdul Abdullah put the Warriors on his shoulders to help secure an impressive 81-72 win over La Sierra.

The victory was Westcliff's second straight to open Cal Pac play.

"2-0 feels great actually," Thomas said. "Me being a returner, 2-0 feels great."

And it should, especially after Thursday's performance in which the Warriors found themselves down 10 in the first half, only to dominate defensively in the second and secure the near double-digit win.

"Man, the defense is crazy," Abdullah said. "All week of practice – defense, defense, defense. Second half, I was telling everybody, 'It's time to pick it up (defensively),' and we showed what we can do out there.

"When the game was on the line, we clamped up and came up big."

Thomas finished with 12 points, perhaps none more important than a jumper he nailed in the waning minutes to give the Warriors a four-point cushion.

The next time up the floor, Thomas made perhaps the pass of the season, a no look beauty down low to Abdullah, who dropped a thunderous dunk.

The Warriors would not look back.

"The previous play, we ran Turbo," Thomas said. "The big didn't help off, so I scored off it with a mid-range jumper. I told coach, 'Let's go back to Turbo,' because I knew they were going to help the next time. We ran that, and I just found Abdul open."

With about five minutes remaining in the contest and Abdullah just heating up, the power forward rolled his ankle landing on a jump shot and hit the floor in pain.

No matter.

After a quick trip to the trainer to get the ankle taped up, Abdullah was back on the court and stifling the Eagles' defense.

"Coach always tells me I'm a force on this team," Abdullah said. "Down the stretch, when I saw that I was getting to the rim with ease – I just knew what to do for my team to win. We got good looks, I had a couple of good buckets, (Adofo) hit a big shot, got the assist.

"We just started throwing different looks that them, and they didn't know who we were going to."

Abdullah finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds, a double-double that should open a couple eyes in Cal Pac scouting circles.

Thomas, meanwhile, finished with 12 and a pair of dimes to complement a pristine one-turnover performance.

"Down the stretch, I knew what the team needed," Thomas said. "I wanted to keep my composure and run this team the way I know how to."

Westcliff was so dialed in it finished the second half without committing a single turnover.

Joshua Jones was his usual dominant self on the offensive end, finishing with 20 points and six boards.

Marius Ntwari chipped in 11 from the post and Cedric Sobers (seven points) came up big with a pair of second-half steals that turned into easy transition buckets.

Up next, the Warriors (4-5, 2-0) travel to St. Katherine for a 3:30 p.m. tip Saturday.

To contact Brandon Petersen, e-mail brandonpetersen@westcliff.edu.