A Successful Back-to-Back for the Warriors

The Westcliff men's basketball team was looking to continue building off their previous win as they hosted UC Merced Friday night.

This would finish off the current home stand where they played three games in four nights.

The Warriors were motivated and looked like the team everyone has been waiting to see as they got the win 70-59.

But it starts on the defensive side for this team and they made their presence be felt throughout the whole game by forcing turnovers, getting steals, and outrebounding the Bobcats.

Head coach Jerred Cook shared his thoughts on the game: "It's a testament to us buying into the principles and being addicted to success, the process, and what it takes to get to that point."

The game was close throughout the first half and neither team could pull ahead for more than a couple of possessions.

The Bobcats had their biggest lead of five points with just under two minutes to go in the first half.

But Westcliff kept applying pressure until the last seconds and was able to get as close as two points with a layup by Micaiah Hankins to finish the half.

The Warriors started the second half a little slow and had a couple of bad possessions that led to unwanted turnovers.

Coach Cook had seen enough and called an early timeout as his team was down 38-36.

Both teams continued scoring without being able to build a big enough lead for long.

Then at the 7:25 mark, Josh Jones hit a timely three-pointer with an assist from Adofo Thomas.

Westcliff went up 53-50 and would not let go of the lead for the rest of the game.

They picked up their defensive intensity and were able to separate themselves by extending the lead to 11 points, 61-50.

The rest of the game was a display of what this team can be for the remainder of the season if they stay locked in.

The Warriors were able to finish the week winning two games in a row and are back in business after a slow start to the season.

"Earlier on in the year it felt like guys were trying to skip steps and it hurt us when it would come down to the stretch," Cook said.

They got another strong performance from Olisa Ngonadi who scored 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had four blocks.

Josh Harrison had 11 points, three assists, and three steals.

Cap Uzan had 10 points and three rebounds.

Coach Cook was proud of his team for how they fought on the defensive side which has been a point of emphasis throughout the season.

"We're definitely more athletic than we were last year and our defense style allows for us to get in passing lanes and get steals, and to dominate on the glass. I expect us to play like this every time."

Up next for the Warriors they will play at Dominguez Hills on December 16th, with tip-off at 5:00 PM.