Men's Basketball defeats West Coast Baptist 92-79

A double-double from freshman Divine Nwoko led a balanced attack for the Keelhaulers who improved to 3-1 on the season.

The Keelhaulers led by double digits for most of Saturday afternoon at the PEAC in Vallejo, Calif., but too many defensive lapses led to the game coming off as an "ugly win."

After trailing by one point about six minutes into the contest, a three pointer by Nwoko sparked a 19-2 run by Maritime. They'd open up their largest lead of the night on a hook shot in the paint by junior Trey Porter at 49-26 with a little over three and a half minutes to go in the first.

But at the end of each half the Eagles would climb back into the game as the Keelhaulers got a little complacent on both ends of the floor.

They would finish the half shooting 52% from the field while holding the Eagles to just 42%. West Coast Baptist would cut it to single digits a couple minutes into the second half at 51-42 after a Cal Maritime turnover.

But the Keelhaulers would never let it get any closer, focusing just enough on their execution to keep the Eagles at arm's length. Cal Maritime would extend its lead to 19 points on two occasions in the second half, with the last one happening at 80-61 with 5:22 remaining after a Zavier Lucero layup.

But the Eagles would continue to fight, eventually trimming it down to an 11-point Keelhauler lead with just under a minute to go, but a basket by junior Kaden Young would seal the deal for Cal Maritime.

The Keelhaulers shot 47% from the field, 71% from the free-throw line, and 34% from three-point range while keeping the Eagles to just 40% from the floor and 26% from downtown. Cal Maritime won the rebounding and turnover battles by six.

Nwoko finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 6 of 11 shooting, including 4 for 5 from beyond the three-point line. Evan Madill racked up 14 points by going 4 of 10 from downtown and Lucero had 13 points and six rebounds on a 5 for 11 shooting night.

Porter finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, including a couple emphatic slam dunks on defenders to pump up his team and the crowd. Elijah Holts also finished in double figures with 12 points and four assists and Josh Hauser led the team with six assists.

UP NEXT: The Keelhaulers will head to Oregon to take on Northwest Christian University on November 15 and a rematch with New Hope Christian on November 17.