UCLA Basketball: The Sons of Westwood use second half boost for the win

Sons of Westwood, the UCLA basketball alumni-fueled team in The Tournament, used a second half charge led by Isaac Hamilton to put away We Are D3 and advance to the second round.

It was a great day for hoops as The Tournament’s West Regional took place at Cal State Los Angeles where the Sons of Westwood, a team comprised of UCLA basketball alumni, were playing in a first round game against We Are D3.

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The Sons of Westwood were unfortunately short-handed. The Bruin alumni went on without two key members, Matt Barnes and Lorenzo Mata. Head coach Ryan Bailey later said that both of them recently injured themselves. Barnes should be with the team on Sunday. Mata is still nursing his injury that he sustained playing with the Mexican National Team and will be unavailable.

The Sons had started out a bit slow. Early on, D3 had a 21-12 lead as they were running right at the former Bruins. Driving the lane, hitting threes, they did it all.

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Malcolm Lee kept the Sons in the game with a pair of threes and ended the first quarter with a team-high 8 points. Along with Isaac Hamilton, who chipped in 6 early, the Sons trailed at the end of one quarter, 26-25, barely hanging on.

It was a bit of the same in the second quarter as D3 continued to take it to the Sons and eventually pulled ahead for a 44-38 lead at halftime, but that would not last long in the second half.

The Sons outscored D3 52-21 after the break. They made a huge statement in the 4th as they only allowed six points. On offense, they shot a dominating 70.9% (22/31).

Lee and Hamilton continued their scoring barrage as they finished with 14 and 21, respectively. Hamilton was especially en fuego as has he had a few runs that helped stretch the lead. He shot 8/12 from the field and 4/6 from downtown. Alright, Hamilton!

The Sons were also aided by the hot hand of Jordan Adams and adopted Notre Dame player Tyrone Nash as they had 15 and 17, respectively. Adams had a tough time getting into the groove in the first half, but in the second he looked like the Bruin that hit the game clinching three in the 2014 Pac-12 Tournament.

After the game, coach Bailey contributed that second half push to his defense. “We started hard hedging on the screens and I think that got us going defensively. That turned things around, especially rebounding.”

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The Sons of Westwood continue their march through The Tournament tomorrow as they take on Albuquerque Hoops at 4:40 p.m. PT. Go Bruins!