Hankins' Clutch Free Throws Gives WU the Win

By Francisco Claudio

The Westcliff men's basketball team is on a two-game winning streak as they took down the University of Merced Bobcats 47-45 Thursday night.

With the win, the Warriors improved to (6-8, Cal Pac 5-4) and are in a three-way tie for fourth place in the conference standings. The other two teams are Benedictine Mesa and La Sierra which the Warriors will meet once more towards the end of the season.

Against UC Merced, the Warriors had to dig deep and grind out a win that was not the prettiest from either side.

Westcliff did not score their first points until nine minutes had run off the clock of the first half. In that span, the Bobcats were able to go on a 9-0 run, which could have been far worse for Westcliff.

John Duff got the first basket for the Warriors as they tried to come back from the slow start to the game.

The Bobcats weren't playing much better and after some missed shots and forced turnovers Westcliff was able to bring it within four, 12-8.

But the Warriors' struggles from the field continued as the Bobcats slowly increased their lead to eight points again.

WU ended the first half the best way possible with a three from Ray Witt Jr and a couple of free throws from Jamal Briscoe as they went into the half-time break only down three, 20-17.

Justin Boateng scored just 15 seconds into the second half to make an immediate impact. One minute later, Briscoe scored on a layup and knocked a three to put the Warriors up 27-26 for the first time that night.

UC Merced responded well to the adversity from the Warriors and retook the lead.

Good defense and patience paid off for Westcliff. On the offensive side, Korey Hess knocked down a couple of threes to bring them within one point again 39-38.

Both teams struggled to score often in the last eight minutes of the ball game and with just one minute to go the score was tied, 45-45.

Micaiah Hankins was fouled with 31 seconds to go and knocked down the game-winning free throws putting WU up 47-45.

UC Merced had two opportunities to score but was unsuccessful.

Westcliff shot 32.7% from the field and 22.7% from long range. They went to the free-throw line 10 times and were able to knock down eight of them.

Duff had a big game on the boards as he collected 12 of them to go with his four blocks and four points.

Briscoe scored 10 points but struggled shooting the ball at 21%.

Hankins who scored the game-winning free throws had six points, two rebounds, and two assists.

Off the bench, Witt Jr scored eight points and was 2-3 from beyond the arc.

Hess also knocked down two three-pointers and collected five rebounds.

Up next, the Warriors will continue their road trip as they visit Simpson University on Saturday for a 7:30 PM game.