PLNU notched its first conference win Saturday night, using a great shooting night to blow past visiting Hope International 78-61.
Nate Van Weelden set the tone early for the Sea Lions, scoring 17 points in a first half that saw the Green and Gold shoot 85 percent from the field, miss just four shots, and head into the break leading 50-32.
"With conference play starting again, we knew this was a must-win home game," said Van Weelden, who hit six shots in a ten-minute span."It was like throwing the ball in the ocean tonight, everything was going in so I just kept shooting."
The Sea Lions finished the night with five players scoring in double figures.
James Hancock had 17, using his superior size and strength to go 8-of-10 from the field.
Rhett Beal scored 12,
DeAndre Jones had 11 and
Jake Johnston added 10. Jones capped off the first half with a coast-to-coast steal and layup just before time expired.
HIU had cut the lead to six points with just under six minutes to play in the first half, but a dunk by
Todd Campbell started a Sea Lion rally that saw the team score eight unanswered and close the half on a 16-4 run.
The young Sea Lions did not falter in the second half, extending the lead to as many as 23 as the teams exchanged buckets for most of the second half. PLNU shot 69 percent from the field for the game and out-rebounded the Royals 29-19.
“Obviously our offensive effort was terrific,” said PLNU coach
Ethan Hamilton. “We did a good job of getting good shots, not just taking shots. When we made a few, we got on a roll. But almost as impressive was how we played defensively in the second half. That's been our focus, to try to hold teams to under 45 percent shooting, and that's what we did tonight.”
The Royals, who fall to 4-8 and 0-3 in the GSAC, were led by 14 points from Marcellus Cullors. Kris Rosales added 13 in the loss.
"This is how we should play every game," said Van Weelden afterwards. "We know we can win. We can shoot, get to the hole, and pound it inside. It was real good to see everything clicking, everyone doing what they needed to do to get a win."
PLNU improves to 4-8, 1-3 in GSAC play. The Sea Lions will make the short trip to El Cajon on Tuesday to face San Diego Christian.
-Jeremiah Wood
