PLNU couldn't find an answer for Fresno Pacific star James Lewis, falling to the visiting Sunbirds 83-63. Lewis, the reigning GSAC player of the year, set the tone from the beginning by scoring 15 points in the first nine minutes of the game and went on to tally 31. Meanwhile the Sea Lions' most consistent threat, Rhett Beal, was held without a field goal in the first half and had some early foul trouble.

PLNU (7-15, 5-10) fell behind 27-12 after eight and a half minutes, as it seemed Lewis and FPU (18-5, 8-5) couldn't miss. The Sea Lions did get some good production inside from James Hancock, who finished with 15 points, but he was in foul trouble throughout the game.

The halftime score was an 18-point Sunbird lead at 51-33.

The second half began with more of the same as FPU stretched the lead to 21. The Sea Lions chipped away at the lead though, and would use a 8-0 run to cut the Sunbird lead down to 62-53 with 10 minutes to play.

Todd Campbell, who finished as the Sea Lions' leading scorer with 16, hit the big shot during that run, a three-pointer that brought the team within nine.

The Sunbirds immediately answered as point guard Adrian Hernandez, who was scoreless up to that point, hit two consecutive three-pointers. Campbell made a layup on the other end, but Lewis quickly responded with a bucket to bring the lead back to 15.

FPU would go on a 13-2 run over the next five minutes, as Lewis capitalized on some fast break chances and senior forward Todd Brown added a three-pointer and a fastbreak bucket of his own.

After the run the score was 83-57 Sunbirds with 3:27 to play and the Sea Lions scoring the game's final six points would make no difference.

Lewis finished 13-of-19 from the field and had five assists and three steals to go with his 31 points. Brown added 17 points for the Sunbirds, while Alex Davenport scored 10 and had five steals. Jesse Childs dished out six assists in the win.

FPU shot 58 percent for the game and connected on 10-of-19 three-point attempts. They actually shot better from the field than they did from the line, making just 7-of-13 free throws.

PLNU got to the line 28 times, sinking 19 of their attempts. The Sea Lions shot 43.5 percent from the field and made 4-of-11 from long-range.

While PLNU did out-rebound the Sunbirds 31-28, the Sea Lions turned the ball over 18 times which led to 19 FPU points. FPU fields one of the more athletic teams PLNU has faced this season, and used that to its advantage on both ends of the floor.

Campbell and Hancock paced the Sea Lions with 16 and 15 respectively. DeAndre Jones added 10 in the loss. Robbie McDaniel led the team with four assists.

The Sea Lions will host San Diego Christian (5-17, 3-9) on Tuesday, a team they have already defeated this year. PLNU beat the Hawks 72-63 on Jan. 5 in El Cajon behind 20 points from Rhett Beal. The Sea Lions currently hold the final seed in the conference tournament, but SDCC is just a game back.

-Jeremiah Wood