SANTA BARBARA, Calif. –  Hitting the floor on the road for the final time this regular season, the William Jessup University Warriors were in Southern California for their second meeting of the season with the Westmont College Warriors. A strong comeback bid was put forth in the final minutes by Jessup, but it wasn't enough as secures a regular season series split with an 83-75 win.

Coming off a season-high 28 points on Thursday, senior Micheal Patterson (Amarillo, TX) kept up his scoring ways Saturday with a 27-point showing. Patterson played 30 minutes in the loss, shooting 10-of-17 from the field while racking up 9 rebounds. 

Westmont led by 15 with three and a half minutes to play Saturday, when Jessup began to spark together a comeback. A 10-0 run for the Jessup Warriors trimmed the Westmont lead to five with 1:17 showing on the clock. 

At this point, Jessup was forced to start fouling, where a 50-percent (12-for-24) showing from the free throw line for Westmont was good enough to hold their lead. Jessup scored just one basket in the final minute of Saturday night's game, a 3-pointer by Kelton Newman (Elk Grove, CA), as Westmont closed the action on an 8-3 run.

Newman closed the game with 18 points off the bench while bringing down 10 rebounds (9 defensive) for his double-double. Seniors Chris Murry (Fremont, CA) and Elijah Lewis (Atlanta, GA) were Jessup's next two leading scorers with 7 and 6 points respectively.

Samuel Bentz led the scoring for Westmont, finishing with 20 points. Sean McDonell shot 8-of-10 from the field to finish with 18 points, bringing down 11 rebounds in the process for a double-double. Cory Blau (14), Sean Harman (12), and Gerald Karczewski (11) also closed the night in double-figures.

Jessup trailed by just six at the half, ending the first 20-minutes on a 7-2 run. The Warriors finished the night shooting 43.9-percent from the field while making 19 of their 26 free throw attempts for a 73.1-percent showing. Westmont shot 48.4-percent from the field. 

The loss causes Jessup's record overall on the 2016-17 season to drop to 17-11. In GSAC play, the Warriors now sit at .500 with a record of 7-7. The Warriors sit in fifth-place in the conference standings, leading sixth seed Arizona Christian by three games.

With just two games left in the regular season, the Warriors will be able to end the year on their home floor as they play host to two GSAC schools this upcoming week. Jessup will take on Arizona Christian on Thursday night before hosting Hope International Saturday for Senior Day. Jessup won their previous meeting with ACU and lost their lone matchup so far with Hope International. 
 
William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat).