The Sea Lions put up a fight in the 69-64 loss to No. 3-ranked Fresno Pacific University Saturday night. It was PLNU's second conference setback for the year, putting the team at 0-2 in GSAC and 1-5 overall.
 
The Sunbirds, who dropped their conference opener versus No. 17 Biola Tuesday after the ratings were published, improved to 1-1 in conference and 7-1 overall.
 
FPU shot .447 percent compared with PLNU's .426, and had 11 steals to the Sea Lions' six. Green and gold bested the Sunbirds on the boards, however, 26-23.
 
The Sea Lions' Greg Murray started things off with the first bucket 21 seconds after tip-off. James Hancock added three more with an extra point opportunity, making it 5-0. It was the last lead PLNU would see, as the Sunbirds followed with 10 unanswered points.
 
FPU expanded the lead to eight by the half. The Sea Lions made a showing in the second, outscoring the Sunbirds 37-34 and narrowing the lead to as few as four points in the final 12 seconds, but it wasn't enough. Fresno Pacific sent the Sea Lions to the bus with three free-throws to PLNU's one.
 
Four PLNU players shot double digits. Greg Murray led with 15 points, followed by Rhett Beal with 13, Nate Van Weelden with 11 and James Hancock with 10, who put up double digits in rebounds as well with 11.
 
Adrian Hurtado was the Sunbirds points leader with 19. Todd Brown hit 16 and James Lewis bucketed 10.
 
The Sea Lions take on Biola in La Mirada, Calif., Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.

-Nathan Scharn