PLNU shot 71 percent in the second half to pull away from visiting San Diego Christian 65-51, Tuesday night in Golden Gym. With the win the Sea Lions completed a season sweep of the Hawks and took another step forward to claim the conference's final playoff spot.
Rhett Beal and
Jake Johnston led the Sea Lions, scoring 17 and 14 points respectively.
James Hancock added 10 points and
Robbie McDaniel finished with nine in the victory.
After a sluggish first half for both sides that saw the Sea Lions take a 24-20 lead into the locker room, PLNU broke out for 41 points in the second half. But Coach
Ethan Hamilton pointed to his team's defense as most responsible for the success on the offensive end.
"This was the best defensive effort all year," said Hamilton. "They're a team that really likes to work it inside and we held them to 18 points in the paint, which is remarkable. Getting stops, turnovers and rebounds created high percentage shots on the other end."
PLNU did hold a significant advantage in the paint, finishing on its opportunities while frustrating the offensive attack of the Hawks. The Sea Lions outscored SDCC 40-18 in the paint, while none of the Hawks' frontcourt players finished with more than two buckets.
Instead, the Hawks got 19 points from Jason Starr, who hit four three-pointers off the bench. Point guard Marcus Miller added 10 points.
A three-pointer by Starr with 12:55 to play brought the Hawks within four, 32-28, after the Sea Lions had jumped ahead to begin the half. A layup by James Green a minute later made the score 34-31, the closest the Hawks would get.
PLNU proceeded to take control of the game, with Beal and Johnston leading the charge. The Sea Lions scored seven unanswered, capped by a Johnston three-pointer to take a ten-point lead. Starr immediately responded with a three, and the Hawks would cut the lead to six with a free-throw, but it was all Sea Lions from there.
PLNU went on a 10-0 run, which included a deep three by
Nic Van Weelden and a three-point play by Beal. The score was 51-35 with six minutes to play and the PLNU defense held strong in the final minutes to seal the victory.
The Sea Lions shot 52 percent on the night and held the Hawks to 40 percent shooting. PLNU did have a rough night from the line, hitting just 12-of-24.
The win brings the Sea Lions' record to 5-10 in GSAC play, while it drops the Hawks to 3-11. San Diego Christian came into the night with a chance to tie the Sea Lions for the eight-seed, instead they leave another game back and having lost the tiebreaker due to the season sweep.
Hamilton said that although he likes to look at each game the same, he stressed the significance of this game to his young team.
"I did communicate the ramifications," he said. "We were fully aware of what it meant and wanted to put some distance between us and them."
He also noted that the team taking over that final playoff spot has given the team new life in the second half of the season.
"With the kind of adversity we've faced all year, we're just emphasizing getting into that conference tournament where we know anything can happen."
PLNU is just a half game ahead of Vanguard for that final spot. The Sea Lions face a tough task this Saturday as they travel to #22 Azusa Pacific (16-8, 9-5). It doesn't get any easier when the team returns home on Tuesday as they face #3 Concordia (22-2, 12-2).
-Jeremiah Wood
