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SAN DIEGO – Point Loma Nazarene's last-second shot missed and the visiting Cal State San Marcos Cougars defeated the Sea Lions in Golden Gymnasium Thursday, 51-50.

The Cougars, playing in their inaugural season, improved to 10-11. The Sea Lions fell to 9-6 with the non-conference loss. Earlier this year it was PLNU beating CSUSM in Oceanside, 75-61, in the first-ever meeting between the two squads.

Loma jumped out to an early 8-3 lead Thursday before Cougar guard Sarah Jackson got hot and scored seven unanswered points to put her team up 10-8.

Brittany Stanley, who got the starting nod from Coach Bill Westphal, scored six of the first 10 points for the Sea Lions, including a jumper that evened the score at 10-all. A pair of Crissa Jackson free throws and a bucket from Nyla Bailey pushed Point Loma ahead by four.

The Sea Lions held onto their slim advantage for the next few minutes until CSUSM tied the game, 21-21, at 5:23. The scoring slowed considerably over the remaining five minutes with PLNU on top heading into the break up 28-25.

The Green and Gold struggled to regain their shooting touch in the second period, tallying just two points through the first six and a half minutes. Cal State San Marcos, meanwhile, caught and passed PLNU and led by seven until buckets by Bailey and Andrea Campbell temporarily righted the Sea Lion ship.

Stanley delivered with a pair of free throws to close the gap to just one point (37-36) midway into the second. Cassie Damyanovich dialed up a three for the Cougars though and her teammates followed with a pair of jumpers.

Cal State San Marcos reclaimed the momentum on those three possessions and, suddenly, the Sea Lions were down by a game-high eight.

The Cougars kept PLNU at arm's length for the next few minutes. But a late 7-0 Point Loma run, capped by a Bailey jumper, had the Sea Lions just a point away with two minutes left.

CSUSM's Michel'la Logan and PLNU's Brianna Colon then traded buckets to make the score 51-50, Cougars, with 42 seconds on the clock.

The Cougars turned the ball over on their next possession and PLNU had a chance to win the game. Though they had 18 seconds to work with, the Sea Lions nearly lost the ball. Bailey managed to save the possession but Jackson's desperation three at the buzzer from very long range was off target.

Bailey led all scorers with 12 points followed by 11 from Jackson and 10 from Colon. Stanley posted eight points and eight rebounds in the loss. Sidney Dober led the Cougars with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Sea Lions will be in Fresno this Saturday to take on GSAC-rivals Fresno Pacific. Tip-off is at 2:30 pm.