SAN DIEGO – Point Loma Nazarene closed out the regular season with a 76-55 triumph over visiting Hope International Saturday night in Golden Gymnasium. The Sea Lions now stand at 14-15 overall and earn a six-seed in the GSAC playoffs after posting a 10-10 conference mark.

PLNU will head to La Mirada on Thursday for a first-round GSAC playoff tilt against third-seed Biola. Loma lost twice to the Eagles this season, 78-71 at home and 58-51 last week at BU. The Eagles (26-4) are currently ranked No. 12 in the NAIA.

The Green and Gold started slowly on Senior Night Saturday and trailed by as much as five points midway into the first period. But a Greg Murray layup at 8:44 evened the score at 19-19 and it was the Sea Lions in control from that point on.

At the break it was Point Loma up 42-28. The Green and Gold stretched its lead to 28 points late in the second half before settling for the 21-point win.

"We were thrilled to win our last home game for our seniors<" said Coach Ethan Hamilton. "We did a lot of things well and had a great focus from start to finish."

The Sea Lions shot an even 50 percent from the field but didn't fare too well at the line, making just 12-22 (54.5 percent).

Greg Murray paced PLNU with 19 points and seven rebounds. Rhett Beal had 13 points with Marek Klassen and Wil Bush adding 11 points to the win.

Royal Jeremy Kilgore led all scorers with 21 points. Teammate Kris Rosales had 14 points in the loss. Hope shot 43.1 percent on the night.

PLNU seniors DeAndre Jones, Robbie McDaniel and James Hancock made their final appearance in Golden Gym but have at least one more game on scheduled at Biola. If the Sea Lions can claim the upset on Thursday, they will advance to the conference semifinals the following Saturday.

"We still have our eyes set on making a run at the national tournament, and we have shown that we can compete with anybody," Hamilton stated.  "We look forward to Thursday night against Biola."

The GSAC playoff bracket is below.

Thursday, March 3, 2011
GSAC Tournament – First Round
#8 The Masters at #1 Concordia, 7:30 pm
#7 California Baptist at #2 Azusa Pacific, 7:30 pm
#6 Point Loma Nazarene at #3 Biola, 7:30 pm
#5 Fresno Pacific at #4 Westmont, 7:30 pm