By Francisco Claudio
The Westcliff men's basketball team has now won three in a row after they took down the Simpson University Red Hawks over the weekend.
This was a huge win for the Warriors who are starting to put things together after working tirelessly during their practices to fix the holes in their game.
With the win, the Warriors improved to (7-8, Cal Pac 6-4). They are tied for fourth place in the conference standings with Benedictine Mesa.
"We shifted our focus and I want to hang our hat on the defensive end," said head coach Jerred Cook. "The challenges all week in practice, the extra scouting, and going over the fundamentals in practice have been our saving grace and where the success lies."
Westcliff faced some adversity in the first half when Simpson went on a run and took the lead 15-14. A 9-0 run by Simpson would put the Warriors in a hole down eight points, the largest of the game.
But Westcliff responded well with a run of their own which began with a three from Jamal Briscoe.
A few possessions later Ray Witt Jr gave the Warriors the lead with a three to go up 26-25.
A couple of free throws from Briscoe put Westcliff up 33-27 to finish the first half and capitalize on a very impressive run from the visiting team.
Warriors were not going to give up the lead they worked so hard to earn in the first half as they landed the first blow in the second half with a 7-0 run.
This increased their lead to double digits as Rayven Turner capped their run with a layup.
Up 13 points, WU just had to sustain their lead, and that's exactly what they did.
Definitely a confidence booster, and one they'll need as Westcliff heads into a tough week.
"Now we've played everyone in conference so I'm excited to see how everyone responds," Cook said. "Playing against teams we've lost and we have two coming up this week.
"I believe we're a better team than the last time we played them. We're playing against tough teams, both ranked No. 1 and 2 in the conference, so it will be a good test to see what we've learned."
The Warriors had some of the best individual performances of the season during this game.
Rayven Turner tallied 17 points and two steals.
Briscoe had 18 points, five rebounds, and a block.
John Duff scored 12 points, grabbed five rebounds, and had three steals.
Witt Jr was perfect from the field and went 2-2 from beyond the arc for eight points.
Korey Hess was solid as always coming off the bench with nine points.
Westcliff shot 51% from the field and was able to go to the free-throw line 27 times. They scored 20 points in that category, which was 10 more than Simpson.
"It's going to be us," Cook said. "A collective effort and staying together."
It will be a buys week for the Warriors as they play against USK on the road on Tuesday.
Then on Thursday, they will be back home to play UAV at 7:30 PM.
