SAN DIEGO – Point Loma Nazarene's 20-0 second-half run lifted the team to a 55-49 win over Hope International Saturday night in Golden Gymnasium. The Sea Lions close out the regular season with a 13-15 overall mark and will finish eighth in the conference standings at 8-12.

Hope owned the lead the majority of the first half and were ahead by as much as 17. The Sea Lions battled back, though, and managed to shave off a few points. At the end of the half, HIU led 28-20.

Though it was the same story for the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Sea Lions caught a new wind just in time to make it count. After shutting down the Royals for over nine minutes, PLNU took the lead from the Royals for the first time in the second half at the five-minute mark. They would keep it all the way to the final buzzer.

Propelled by a steal from Kiley Berlinski, the Sea Lions held the Royals to just four points in the remaining five minutes of play. A three-pointer from Berlinski with 42 seconds left gave Loma a comfortable gap between themselves and their foes, and the Sea Lions took the victory by six points.

Point Loma outshot Hope International 36.4 percent to 33.3 percent from the field, and 71.4 percent to 50 percent from the free throw line.  Surprisingly, the Sea Lions were outrebounded 44-38 by the Royals, but the difference was in free throws made. PLNU made five more points at the stripe than HIU—almost exactly the amount that they won by.

Crissa Jackson shined with 18 points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals. Berlinksi added 13 with three assists and five steals. Abby Boorman came up big under the net, with 11 rebounds and four blocks.

For the Royals, Champ Hood, Kasey Philyaw, and Lauren Salazar all scored in double digits—Hood with a double-double, recording 12 rebounds, eight of which were offensive. Hope International finishes the season with a 4-16 GSAC record, 12-18 overall.

The Sea Lions will be the eighth seed in the conference standings and will travel to #1 seed Azusa Pacific University on Wednesday night for a first-round GSAC playoff game that starts at 7:30 pm.

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

Friday, March 4, 2011
GSAC Tournament – Semifinals