Warriors Get the Win in Overtime

Westcliff men's basketball team was looking to start the new year off strong when they visited Saint Katherine last Saturday.

Saint Katherine was sitting at the top of the Cal Pac Conference having only lost one game in conference play.

The motivated Warriors battled hard and took care of business in overtime with a final score of 77-69.

Westcliff has been looking for some continuity after their season's slow start.

They ended 2022 on a positive note with a win against La Sierra, and the expectation is for a strong second half to the season.

Saturday's game started with both teams exchanging buckets and neither team leading by more than one point.

At 9:29, Micaiah Hankins hit a three-point shot giving the Warriors the lead, 18-15.

Hankins would have himself a big night and was a big reason for the win.

There was very little separation between both teams in the first half as Cap Uzan closed it out with a jumper to bring the Warriors within three points, 33-30.

The second half promised to be another close fight if it followed the same pattern as the first.

And it did. 

Both teams continued to exchange baskets until Saint Katherine broke away after a couple of consecutive fouls from Westcliff.

This gave the Firebirds the biggest lead of the game, eight points with six minutes to play.

But the Warriors didn't quit and slowly started to chip away at the deficit in what looked like it would come down to a close final minute.

Hankins hit a big jump shot with 90 seconds to play which tied the game at 64-64.

Westcliff took a two-point lead after a couple of free throws, but Saint Katherine tied it up again in the last seconds to send the game into overtime.

This was the second overtime game for the Warriors after they had lost the first one a couple of weeks back to Pacific Union.

But this isn't the same team they were a couple of weeks back, as they get better with every new game.

And it was on full display as Westcliff went on a 10-1 run in the last four minutes of overtime to get the win against one of the best teams this season.

Head coach Jerred Cook shared his thoughts on the game: "Huge win over the #2 team in the conference. Our team has a next-man-up mentality, and we pride ourselves on competing to give ourselves the best chance to win the conference."

"Our team showed some toughness and grit to get it done on the road."

Uzan finished with a game-high 21 points, four assists, and three rebounds. He shot 58% from the field and made a couple of baskets from beyond the arc.

Hankins scored 17 points, grabbed seven rebounds, had four assists, and three steals.

With the win, the Warriors now have an overall record of (5-5) and a conference record of (4-3).

They sit in fifth place, only one game back from the fourth spot.

"In overtime, we were able to make more plays than the other team down the stretch," Cook said. Guys were diving on loose balls, winning 50-50 possessions, and giving up their bodies for charges; we talked about what it meant to make winning plays and guys showed it through their actions."

Up next for the Warriors they will play at Park-Gilbert on Thursday, January 12th, with tip-off at 6:30 PM.