Warriors Dip Below .500 with Loss
The Westcliff men’s basketball dropped a contest it probably should have won Saturday at the Jordan Lawley Center, where Antelope Valley beat the Warriors, 76-70. With the loss, Westcliff (5-9) dropped to 3-4 in Cal Pac play.
by BRANDON PETERSEN
The Westcliff men's basketball dropped a contest it probably should have won Saturday at the Jordan Lawley Center, where Antelope Valley beat the Warriors, 76-70.
With the loss, Westcliff (5-9) dropped to 3-4 in Cal Pac play.
The Warriors shot 30 three-pointers, connecting on just 11 (36.7%), while Antelope Valley put up a far more modest 12 attempts and connected on six.
Despite winning the rebounding and assist battles, Westcliff committed 21 personal fouls to Antelope Valley's 12, and in a game they lost by six, the Warriors allowed the Pioneers 28 free throws and shot just 11 themselves.
"Recurring themes are lack of pride and inconsistencies in things that don't bring instant gratification like finishing plays by rebounding, sealing and boxing out," Westcliff associate head coach Andre Wallace said. "Practice details and scout details that if players would commit to studying the resources that the coaches provide, such as recorded practice, studying their playbooks, the scouting report, opening up Synergy and reviewing our own tendencies and mistakes, can permanently eliminate that which causes us to lose games."
Abdul Abdullah had a monster night on the boards, collecting 16, but the rest of the Warriors only managed 20 as a team.
Joshua Harrison led the scoring with 17. Joshua Jones had 16 and Jordan Reed had 11.
Westcliff shot 39.1% as a team.
"What will turn this around is eliminating our margin of error by translating the work and the off-court mental requirements committed players will do even when it's not enjoyable or vogue," Wallace said. "We don't love that part of the grind as players because we don't want to have to face that man in the mirror and look at him say, 'you're not as good as you thought you were,' so we choose to be marginal instead of great.
"Many of our players come from situations where they were overlooked, not believed in, discounted and not valued. We love and value each player and put the time in. Until our players put value in the things that don't create views or social media presence, we'll lose games by beating ourselves."
The Warriors face UC Santa Cruz today at Jordan Lawley Center.
Tip is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
To contact Brandon Petersen, e-mail brandonpetersen@westcliff.edu.