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SAN DIEGO -- In front of many alumni and a frenzied Green Sea on Homecoming Weekend, the Sea Lions beat Trevecca Nazarene 75-71 at Golden Gymnasium Saturday. Sophomore Marek Klassen led all scorers with 22 points, and senior Jake Johnston added 18 points and 7 rebounds to help the Sea Lions improve to 4-0 on the season.


 
Senior Rhett Beal scored 12 points to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 assists for the Sea Lions, who were down by as much as 12 points in the game before rallying in the second half.
 
The Sea Lions dominated the glass, outrebounding the Trojans 41-29. Ussery led all players with 12.
 
Klassen sank a jumper in the paint for the game's first basket. Then sophomore forward Anthony Ussery stole the following inbound pass and dished to ball to Klassen, who made the layup and the free throw to put the Sea Lions up 5-0.
 
PLNU stretched its lead to nine, but the Trojans went on a 12-0 run to take the lead.
 
The teams continued to go back and forth until Klassen tied the game at 25 with a 3-pointer. After that, Trevecca controlled the rest of the half.
 
The Sea Lions played sloppy during of the first half, giving up 11 turnovers and shooting a 46 percent compared to 58 percent for the Trojans. PLNU entered the break down 41-32.
 
Trevecca's Michael France led the scoring at the half with 15 points. He would go on to finish with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.
 
The second half belonged almost completely to the Sea Lions. The Green and Gold opened the half on an 11-2 run to tie the game at 43, capped by a layup and a 3-pointer from Klassen.
 
Two free throws by Keith Morris put the Trojans on top 50-45, but consecutive baskets by Johnston, Ussery and senior Wil Bush gave the Sea Lions a lead that they would keep for the rest of the game.
 
The Sea Loins continued their 14-0 run to lead 59-50 with nine minutes to go. And after two free throws by Trevecca's Marquise Rudolph, the Sea Lions added on a jumper and two free throws to reach their largest lead of the night at 63-52.
 
But the game was far from over. Trevecca chipped away at the 11-point Sea Lion lead. Beal hit a free throw to make the score 74-66 with 26 seconds left, but Peyton Henry nailed a three at the top of the arc. Then Blake Carden stole the inbounds pass and dished the ball Henry who laid it in to cut the lead to three.
 
With six seconds remaining, Beal nailed the clinching free throw, and Henry missed a three at the buzzer to give the Sea Lions a Homecoming victory.
 
PLNU and Trevecca shot 46 and 47 percent from the field respectively, but the Sea Lions outshot the Trojans on free throws 71 to 57 percent.
 
The win pushed the Sea Lions to 4-0 for the first time since the 2000-01 season.
 
On Nov. 29, the Sea Lions will open Golden State Athletic Conference play on the road against Vanguard University in Costa Mesa. The game will tip off at 7:30 pm.