Warriors Sweep Aside Arizona
As of print time, the Westcliff men's basketball team has the most wins, six, in the Cal Pac Conference. That development came as a result of a perfect weekend road trip to Arizona, where the Warriors swept aside Park-Gilbert, Benedictine Mesa and Embry-Riddle, 71-69, to move to 6-4 in conference play.
by BRANDON PETERSEN
As of print time, the Westcliff men's basketball team has the most wins, six, in the Cal Pac Conference.
That development came as a result of a perfect weekend road trip to Arizona, where the Warriors swept aside Park-Gilbert, Benedictine Mesa and Embry-Riddle -- 71-69 on Sunday -- to move to 6-4 in conference play.
With three games left against UC Merced, and Cal Pac leaders Saint Katherine and Simpson, Westcliff is a serious contender for postseason play, and not yet out of even the league championship hunt.
"3-0 on the trip was the mission," Westcliff head coach Jerred Cook said. "We accomplished it by giving ourselves the best opportunity to make postseason play in the Cal Pac. Our team is starting to play some inspired basketball -- playing for each other and making the extra effort plays that are necessary to win."
That point was never better exemplified than Sunday night, the Warriors' third night in a row on the court, where they found themselves down 20 to Embry-Riddle after a sluggish first half.
After a furious comeback and with the game in the balance in the closing moments, Cedric Sobers came up huge in one-on-one with a block and kick ahead to Joshua Harrison who gave the Warriors a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
"The team rallied together and got the stop when we needed it," Cook said. "It's a testament to the guys buying into and trusting the process, even if it doesn't yeild results right away."
Harrison was almost unstoppable Sunday night. Dropping a program-record 36, Harrison was 11-of-15 from the floor inclduing 4-of-5 from distance. He made all 10 of his free throws, added three boards and two dimes and finished his 34 minutes without a turnover committed.
"He paced us all night, getting to his spots and scoring with a variety of moves," Cook said.
Abdul Abdullah finished with 13 points and eight rebounds. Marius Ntwari added nine and Adofo Thomas had six.
After hosting UC Merced Thursday at JLaw for an 8:30 tip, Westcliff will host Simpson on Saturday and league leader, Saint Katherine, Monday the 21st at Golden West.
To contact Brandon Petersen, e-mail brandonpetersen@westcliff.edu.