PLNU gave the #1 team in the nation all they could handle, but Terrence Worthy and Concordia would hang on for a 74-69 victory over the eighth-seeded Sea Lions in the first round of the GSAC playoffs Thursday night in Irvine.
Worthy, playing in his final home game, scored 29 points and ended the Sea Lions' chances by stealing the ball in the closing seconds. PLNU had the ball trailing 72-69 with six seconds remaining, looking to get one final shot, but Worthy stole the ball and took it in for a layup as time expired.
The loss ends PLNU's season at 8-21 but the Sea Lions have no reason to hang their heads, after playing neck and neck with the NAIA's top-ranked Eagles all night. Concordia never led by more than seven points and trailed the Sea Lions with as late as eight minutes left in the game.
"I've been so impressed on how resilient this group has been," PLNU coach
Ethan Hamilton said of his team. "They have been through a lot but never dropped off. They play hard every game for 40 minutes. As a coach, that's all you can ask."
James Hancock had a big night for Point Loma, scoring 22 points and grabbing eight boards. It was his free-throw with 8:14 remaining that gave PLNU a 49-48 lead.
CUI proceeded to go on an 8-0 run, with Worthy sparking the rally. The Sea Lions refused to go away though as Hancock,
Jake Johnston and
Rhett Beal continued to score against the top-ranked Eagle defense.
Beal sank two free throws with 3:20 remaining to get the Sea Lions within two at 60-58. GSAC player of the year Justin Johnson responded on the other end for the Eagles by converting a three-point play.
After a Hancock free-throw, Johnson scored and was fouled again on the ensuing possession, making the free throw to put the Eagles up 66-59 and effectively kill any momentum the Sea Lions had.
As they had all night though, the Sea Lions continued to battle and Hancock out-muscled CUI rebounders for a putback and was fouled with 2:24 to play. He made the free throw to get PLNU back within 66-62. An athletic move by
Todd Campbell moments later drew the Sea Lions even closer, at 66-64 with 1:30 remaining.
Worthy got to the line on the next possession and sank both free throws to put CUI up by four. After a missed PLNU three-pointer, Johnson was fouled and made one free throw to make the score 69-64 Eagles. Campbell was then able to draw a foul and hit both free throws with 31 seconds left, but Johnson did the same thing on the other end to put CUI back up by five.
Nic Van Weelden then picked a perfect time for his only basket of the night, as he drained a three-pointer with seven seconds left to make the score 71-69. Concordia was able to get the ball in to Johnson, but he missed one of two free throws giving PLNU one last chance.
That was when Worthy came up with the aforementioned steal that sealed the win for CUI, sending them into the GSAC semifinals.
The Eagles would not have been able to avoid the upset without an exceptional free-throw shooting night. CUI made 26-of-28 attempts from the line, the only two misses coming in the final minutes. PLNU shot 69 percent from the charity stripe, hitting 18-of-26.
PLNU shot an incredibly high 59 percent for the game, compared to 44 percent for the Eagles, and were selective and accurate on their three-point attempts, making 5-of-8. The Sea Lions fell victim though to the stout CUI defense. PLNU turned the ball over 18 times, compared to just seven Eagle turnovers.
PLNU led 30-23 with two minutes remaining in the first half, but the Eagles closed the gap to two at the break. The Sea Lions did a great job on Johnson in the first half, holding the GSAC player of the year to two points and no field goals.
Just six and a half minutes into the second half, Concordia was already in the bonus after PLNU's seventh foul. This hurt the Sea Lions' chances as the Eagles simply refused to miss from the line. Another big play came with 14:06 left in the game when, with PLNU up by two, Worthy hit a three and was fouled, resulting in a four-point swing that got the home crowd back into it.
Worthy had seven steals, made all nine attempts from the line and was 9-of-15 from the field in his 29-point performance. Johnson added 16 points for the Eagles, 14 coming in the second half.
Hancock was PLNU's go-to player all night long, making 9-of-13 on his way to 22 points. Beal finished with 13 and Johnston added 11. The Sea Lions out-rebounded CUI 30-18 and outscored the Eagles 34-24 in the paint.
It was PLNU's third loss of the season to Concordia. The previous two setbacks were by nine points each. The Sea Lions played their best contest of the three Thursday to nearly repeat the effort the team accomplished back in 1999 when they - as the eight seed - shocked top-seed Azusa Pacific 78-77 in overtime in a conference tournament opening round tilt.
Concordia moves on to face 4th-seeded Fresno Pacific, who downed Westmont 94-89. Biola and Azusa Pacific will meet up in the other GSAC semifinal this Saturday. All games will be hosted by Biola.
The Sea Lions meanwhile look ahead to next season and look to have every major contributor from this year's team, plus those out with injuries, back and ready to contribute next season.
"No one wanted this season to end," said Hamilton. "We wanted to win this game and keep going. That didn't happen, but these guys are going to start getting ready for next year starting tomorrow."
-Jeremiah Wood
