Undefeated Warriors Host Tom Byron Classic
By
Westmont
![Senior Justin Bessard is averaging nearly 16 points a game for the Warriors](/sites/default/files/blogs-legacy/2019/12/JustinBessardHP-505x387.jpg)
No. 11 Westmont men’s basketball, which has started the season with 12 straight victories, hosts the 44th Annual Tom Byron Classic featuring No. 2 The Master’s University, the University of Calgary in Alberta, and Park University of Arizona, in its first academic year of athletics with hopes for NAIA membership in 2020-21.
The Warriors battle the Dinos of Calgary on Monday, Dec. 30, at 6:30 p.m. and the Park Buccaneers on Tuesday, Dec. 31, at 1 p.m. Unfortunately, the Golden State Athletic Conference showdown between Westmont and The Master’s will have to wait until Saturday, Jan. 18.
The Warriors are off to their best start since 1983-84 when the team began the season 18-0, finished with a 31-4 record and reached the semifinals of the NAIA National Tournament.
![Coach Jeff Azain and Head Coach John Moore](/sites/default/files/blogs-legacy/2019/12/AzainMoore-505x337.jpg)
The tournament honors Tom Byron who, in addition to serving as dean of men at Westmont, coached the Warriors from 1965-71 before dying at the age of 43 from cancer.
“Tom Byron was a man of incredible character and distinction,” says John Moore, Westmont head coach and the tournament’s first MVP as a player in 1977. “Our team can take a great deal of pride in a tournament named for Coach Byron because of the legacy he left at Westmont.”
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Alumni, Sports, Student Stars