Concordia Beats Westmont Despite Extended Cold Spell

After racing to a 23-point, first-half lead, Concordia nearly let it all slip away, but recovered to hang on to an 87-80 victory over Westmont in a Golden State Athletic Conference men’s basketball game Saturday.

Concordia’s torrid shooting had to cool off sometime--no team can consistently make more than 70% of its shots. But the Eagles, who shot 76.7% in the second half of a victory over Azusa Pacific Tuesday, actually did better than that early in the first half against Westmont.

Concordia (19-8, 8-4 in conference) made 10 of its first 12 shots from the field (83%), racing to a 22-9 lead with 13 minutes 22 seconds left in the half. Another flurry, a 13-0 run, gave the Eagles a 41-18 lead with 7:09 left, but then they had a cold spell, making only one more field goal before halftime.

Westmont (16-10, 8-4), which cut the lead to 13 at the half, made it close with a 13-2 run early in the second half. The Warriors cut the deficit to one, 65-64, with 6:42 left and to two with 5:07 left, but Concordia scored the next six points to take control.

Tarik James fed Pharoah Jones for an inside basket. Then Jeff Putnam, playing for the first time after sitting out three games with a broken elbow, made a steal and a breakaway dunk. Danny Barajas made a steal in the back court and passed to Jaime Jaquez for a layup to make it 74-66.