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SAN DIEGO – The Sea Lions fell short in the waning minutes against Ashford (Iowa) Tuesday night, losing the non-conference tilt in Golden Gymnasium, 65-64.

Point Loma Nazarene rallied from a 13-point deficit to go ahead by 10 five minutes into the second half only to have the visiting Saints retake the lead in the final two minutes.

Still, Anthony Ussery put the Sea Lions back on top by one point with a tip-in with 44 seconds remaining with Ashford taking possession after the PLNU bucket. The Saints took their time with Matthias Burns missing a layup as the shot clock neared zero.

Unfortunately for Loma, Burn's teammate, Jason Landry, grabbed the rebound and put in the go-ahead bucket with 11 seconds to go. PLNU's Marek Klassen brought the ball up court, headed into the paint before dishing the rock out to Hayden Lescault whose shot at the buzzer went in and out.

The heartbreaking loss snapped Point Loma Nazarene's two-game win streak and dropped the team to 6-4 overall. Ashford improved to 9-5 with the win. The Green and Gold hosts Baker (Kan.) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. After that the Sea Lions return to GSAC play for good beginning with a Jan. 3 game versus San Diego Christian.

Tuesday night looked like it might be a long one for the PLNU.  The Sea Lions had trouble making anything early and quickly fell behind, trailing 20-8 at 11:24.

Wil Bush sank a 3-pointer to stop the bleeding and Lescault then had an and-one at 9:29 to cut the deficit to ten as PLNU slowly started chipping away. Todd Campbell hit a jumper for the last bucket of the half to narrow the gap to just three points, 36-33.

A free throw from Campbell and a layup from Klassen pulled PLNU even with the Saints less than a minute into the second stanza. Lescault pulled up and drained a trey at 18:03 to give PLNU its first lead since the team was up 1-0 to start the game.

Point Loma's advantage swelled to double-digits five minutes into the half. Ashford rallied, though, and at 8:12 was within striking distance at 55-52. Another three, this time by Ussery, helped the Sea Lions regain the momentum.

PLNU went back up by eight only to see the Saints make four-consecutive from the stripe, sink a jumper and convert on another free throw. The Sea Lions meanwhile, went cold and could only watch AU's 7-0 run.

Lescault delivered on a pair of free throws to put the Sea Lions in front 62-59 at 2:47. Matthias was fouled on the next AU possession, however, and made both of his shots at the line to set the stage for the final two minutes of play.

Bush, a senior guard, led PLNU with 17 points in the loss. He made all four attempts in the first half, including a trio of 3-pointers. Bush ended up going 7-for-10 and would probably have had more if not for getting into foul trouble early into the second half. He would foul out at the three minute mark.

Campbell was next with 11 points with Lescault adding 10 points, six rebounds and five assists. The Sea Lions shot 43 percent from the field and struggled from downtown, making just 5-of-16 there (31 percent). PLNU connected just twice in nine tries from beyond the arc over the final 20 minutes.

Ashford shot 50 percent as a team, made 6-13 (46 %) from long-range and was good on 17 free throws. Each side pulled in 30 rebounds. The Sea Lion defense did force 19 turnovers which were converted into 22 points.

Matthias led all scorers with 18 points. Saint teammate Javier Valdez added 11 points.