MALIBU — In a non-conference exhibition against NCAA Division I Pepperdine (6-9), Westmont (10-3) was unable to match the Waves as they fell 96-69 in Malibu.
The Warriors men’s basketball team opened up the game in promising fashion by knocking down consecutive 3-pointers, first from Cade Roth and second from Nate Meithof. Then, for the first 10-plus minutes, the Warriors and Waves traded points without either lead being stretched to more than one possession.
With 8:37 left to play in the first period, Roth knocked down another 3-pointer, which stretched Westmont’s lead to 27-21. The six-point advantage would be the largest Westmont lead of the day, as the Waves struck soon-after.
With under 6 minutes left in the half, Pepperdine capped off a 10-0 run to first tie, then surpassed the Warriors with a 31-27 lead. Westmont would not tie the game up again.
Over the final 1:49 of the first half, the Waves went on a 7-0 run to take a 49-34 lead into intermission. The Warriors shot just 38% from the field (14-37) during the first half compared to Pepperdine’s 59% clip (19-32). Westmont was also outrebounded 22-14 during the period.
The run continued for Pepperdine in the second half as the Waves held no mercy and opened up the final period with a 15-0 run. Ultimately, dating back to the final minutes of the first half, Pepperdine went on a 22-0 run over a six-minute span to take a commanding 64-34 lead early in the half.
The Warriors would eventually trim just three points off the deficit the rest of the way, falling 96-69 at the end of the game.
Nate Meithof led the Warriors with 22 points, while Jalen Townsell was the only other member of the club in double-digits with 12. Cade Roth had 10 of the club’s 19 assists and also contributed with eight points.
As a club, the Warriors shot just 37% from the field (26-69) and committed 20 turnovers throughout the contest. The Waves scored 25 points off of Westmont’s turnovers.
Pepperdine also outrebounded Westmont 52-33 and had 18 second chance points compared to Westmont’s six.
The Warriors will now take a break for Christmas before returning to the court at 3 p.m. Dec. 30 when they host St. Katherine at the Montecito campus.
The last time the two clubs met on Nov. 23, Westmont outlasted Saint Katherine 94-89 in overtime to win their eighth consecutive game to start the season.
Tickets are available at athletics.westmont.edu.
Jacob Norling is the sports information assistant at Westmont College.
email: sports@newspress.com
