Mesa, Ariz. – NAIA National Championship, prepare yourself; a first-time Cal Pac Conference Tournament Champion will be crowned tomorrow. The Westcliff Warriors finished off a clinical effort with a 74-64 victory over the Saint Katherine's Firebirds. Between the two appearing in the final, the Warriors of Westcliff and the Bobcats of UC Merced, neither have ever appeared in the final of the Cal Pac Conference Tournament.
Westcliff got out of the gates well, taking a 13-8 lead after the first five minutes of the contest. This stretch was highlighted by Gary Harris of the Warriors, who had a highlight-reel dunk to go along with a three-pointer. However, while the run began, Westcliff found themselves in early foul trouble, putting the Firebirds in the bonus with nearly 14 minutes to go in the half.
Even with the foul trouble, the Warriors were able to keep control and force the game to remain close down the stretch. Westcliff didn't give the lead back to Saint Katherine until a buzzer beater from the Firebirds Javier Gallardo gave them the upper hand going into the break.
For the Firebirds, they were led offensively by Chris Harper, who headed to the locker room with 13 points on 4-8 shooting. Jacob Durham led the squad with six rebounds, while Cesar Meza had five assists.
Westcliff saw a team scoring effort in the first half, with Harris and Cap Uzan leading with seven apiece. The Warriors did, however, struggle to find each other resulting in baskets, tallying just four assists in the first half; their regular season average was 11.3.
Both teams traded buckets to open up the second half, but the Warriors were the first to break away, as they jumped out to an early 10-2 run. Jerred Cook's Warriors grew the lead to eight, but failed to grow it beyond that.
USK battled back, however, keeping it within reach as time ticked slowly down. Each team took turns with a stop and a bucket, trading back and forth until a timeout was called following a big bucket-and-one by the Warriors Abdul Abdullah, extending their lead to 8. Though Abdullah couldn't convert the and-one, the deficit was clear for the Firebirds, with time ticking down to less than three minutes.
Saint Katherine wasn't able to close the gap entering the final minute, forcing them to send the Warriors to the line. Unfortunately for the Firebirds, the Warriors converted from the line, and the Warriors cradled the victory all the way to the final buzzer. A date with destiny, set for Tuesday night.
The Warriors weren't led by just one player, but the whole team in the massive victory. Harris led the way on the scoresheet with 18 points, followed shortly behind by Uzan's 17. Abdul Abdullah capped his massive night 12 points and 15 rebounds. The Warriors finished the game shooting 48% as a team on the night.
St. Kats saw Chris Harper take over with 26 points, but his herculean effort wasn't enough in the end. Jacob Durham had eight points and nine rebounds, while the bench combined for 17 points.
The Cal Pac Conference Tournament Championship game now set, as the will take on #4 seeded UC Merced on Tuesday night. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. AST in Fieldhouse C at the Legacy Sports Complex.
