Keelhaulers protect perfect league record with seventh-straight win

VALLEJO, Calif. – Up by six with 33 seconds remaining in Thursday's Cal Pac Conference game at PEAC Main Gym, Cal Maritime's defense stepped up and made the clutch play of the game by forcing Westcliff's Greg Walter Jr. to take an awkward shot from 10 feet, which led to a heads-up play from Amil Fields, who came up with a defensive rebound on that play. 

Instead of protecting the ball and forcing the Warriors to stop the clock by fouling him, Field saw Nwoko racing down the court; no Westcliff player noticed him until it was too late as Field's lengthy pass hit his teammate in stride, which led to an uncontested basket that iced the game for the Keelhaulers.

Now ahead by a 73-65 score, these teams traded free throws throughout the final seconds of the game — one Cal Maritime won, 74-66.

With Thursday's victory, the Keelhaulers will end the final game of their current five-game homestand at 9-5 overall and 4-0 in league play. As the first Cal Pac team to collect four victories throughout league play — five have a pair of wins to their credit — Cal Maritime will look to sweep its conference-opening slate of home games when Saint Katherine visits PEAC Main Gym for Saturday's 3 p.m. clash.

Their victory over Westcliff was the Keelhaulers' seventh-straight, the longest win streak since the 2019-20 season when that squad built a matching string of results before the start of Cal Pac play.

On 6 of 13 shooting from the floor, which includes 5 of 9 hit from three, Amil Fields led Cal Maritime with 17 points and eight rebounds. Divine Nwoko finished with 11 points and five rebounds and Lucky Hampton scored a season-high 11 by canning 5 of 6 overall attempts.

Hampton also set a new season high by ending his night with six rebounds.