Hoopsters chalk up men's 1,000th win

12/28/05

By LEAH ETLING
NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER

WESTMONT 75, BETHANY 55

Hoopsters chalk up men's 1,000th win

The Westmont College men's basketball team captured its 1,000th win in program history Tuesday night at home against Bethany College, 75-55.

Coach John Moore played all of his active players in the win. Westmont led 28-18 at halftime and opened its scoring in the second half against Bethany, a scrappy team from Northern California.

"It brings the history of our program to the forefront," Moore said of the win. Westmont has been playing basketball since the 1940s, and Moore himself was an athlete in the program, graduating in 1978.

Though he never expects to have as high a winning percentage as former coach Ron Mulder (.767 over two seasons) or as many wins as Chet Kammerer (359 over 17 years), Moore said the milestone got him thinking about the hundreds of players he has coached in 14 years who have contributed to the Westmont program.

He is the 11th basketball coach in Westmont history.

After an eight-day layoff for the Christmas holiday, the Warriors were rusty on their shooting in the first half, but they performed well defensively.

The Warriors (7-3, 1-1 Golden State Athletic Conference) were led offensively by junior Santiago Aguirre, who had 13 points and seven rebounds.

"I was really hungry," said Aguirre, a hometown product from Santa Barbara High. He said he and his teammates were "a little winded" in the first half but quickly found their way back into the groove.

Westmont put up a 9-0 run midway through the first half to take the lead, which it never relinquished.

Moore credited the play of freshman Tyler Dutton (12 points), who had two big 3s and a driving lay-up within two minutes in the second half, senior guard Aaron Tudor, who made two big 3s and had nine points, and freshman Dustin Jones, who came off the bench for some good time and seven points.

Chris Norman's 13 points led Bethany.

Westmont begins its annual Tom Byron Classic tournament on Thursday. Two of the top Division 3 schools in the country, Illinois Wesleyan and Puget Sound, play at 5:30 p.m. Westmont goes up against Berry of Georgia at 7:30 p.m.

Moore said spectators can expect to see some great games and many different styles of basketball. Consolation and championship games will be held the following day.

WESTMONT WOMEN

WESTMONT 87, BETHANY 47

The Westmont women's team warmed up for a tough contest this evening with a big win over Bethany.

Five Warriors were in double figures, and coach Kirsten McKnight was pleased with their defensive effort.

"In the first half, we were rusty, but we really focused in the second half," McKnight said. Westmont led 36-27 at halftime and immediately pulled away after halftime.

"Our emphasis coming in was to focus on pressure, forcing turnovers and creating offensive opportunities with our defense," McKnight said.

Stephanie Anderson led Westmont (5-5, 1-1 GSAC) with 16 points. Ali Mooty had 11 points and 11 rebounds, Sara Uhlman had 14 points, Meghan O'Donogue 18 points, and Annie Johnson came off the bench for 11 points. The women play Lubbock Christian at home at 5:30 tonight.

e-mail: letling@newspress.com