By Drew Barton

 

San Bruno, California- After Thursday’s overtime victory, the Oaks would find themselves in another close battle with the visiting Westmont Warriors. Within the first 10 minutes of action the Warriors surged ahead to a 24-7 lead. They would end the half up 40-25 behind five made threes from senior Cade Roth and 11 Menlo turnovers. Coach Rooney would look to his bench in the second half. Nick High, Kareem Rowe and Corey Le’aupepe would provide the spark the Oaks needed and with just under six minutes of play, gave the Oaks their first lead of the game. From that point forward Menlo dug deep, knocked down their free throws and return to Hayes-Prim Pavilion with the victory.

 

Sophomore guard Nick High picked the right game to post his season high of 19 points. He shot an almost perfect 8-9 from the field and kept Menlo within striking distance throughout the second half. High would score five consecutive points with less than six minutes left to give Menlo a lead they would not relinquish.

 

Harrison Bonner played a game high 37 minutes. He would pick up his fourth foul with 10 minutes left in the game yet coach Rooney would trust his senior to close the game. Regardless of the pressure of fouling out, Bonner’s composure as a veteran player was on full display. Not only did he play clean defense the rest of the way, but knocked down five of six free throw attempts to seal the Menlo victory. 

 

Lastly, Khalid Price and Patrick Ryan chipped in 12 and 18 points respectively. The Oaks won the rebounding battle 37-24 and still managed a solid 50% from the field as a team even after a slow start. 

 

With another gritty win in the books; the Oaks will now turn their attention to #1 ranked Arizona Chrisitan on January 12th. With the momentum of a five game win streak behind them Menlo should be looking to make a statement in Glendale.