Box Score

SAN DIEGO - Golden Gymnasium was rocking tonight as the Point Loma men's basketball team thrilled the full-capacity, Homecoming crowd with a 94-86 overtime victory over Olivet Nazarene (Nov. 23).

PLNU (3-1) got 21 points apiece from Hayden Lescault and Marek Klassen to lead four Sea Lions in double-figures. But it was Lescault that was the go-to guy down the stretch for Point Loma. He hit the crucial game-tying layup with just 0.6 seconds remaining in regulation to send the game to overtime. He then scored five of his 21 points in the extra time to lift the Sea Lions to the win. The junior from Folsom, Calif., hit 6 of his 12 shots from the field and 8-of-10 at the line to score a season-high 21 points. He also added a career-high nine assists in the win.

"Hayden made a very good play because he is a very good player," said Point Loma head coach Bill Carr. "He puts in a lot of work and he deserves to have that moment."

Lescault's drive capped off a second-half comeback for PLNU in which it trailed by as many as 10 points. The Sea Lions kept chipping away at the Tigers' lead in the second half, as the crowd was ready to explode, but they could never take the lead. Point Loma finally tied the game at 81-81 win 2:39 remaining on AJ Ussery's layup. ONU's Austin Davis then answered with a jumper before Lescault hit his game-tying layup to force overtime.

In the extra period Point Loma turned up the defensive pressure and held Olivet to just 1-of-5 shooting after they had shot at 67 percent the rest of the game. PLNU was no better from the field in the extra five minutes but went 9-of-10 at the line to earn the hard fought victory.

"I have no doubt in my mind it was our crowd in the second half helped us win this game," coach Carr explained. "The crowd kept us energized and it was able to get them out of rhythm a little bit.

"Our guys kept fighting and fighting to give us a chance to get into overtime," Carr continued. "We made our free throws and got a couple stops when we needed them. We just hung around long enough to keep them on their toes, and we got a win that maybe we didn't deserve but we'll take it."

Ussery scored all eight of his points in the final four minutes of regulation and overtime. Judd Welfringer also chipped in with 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, and Junior Morgan hit 10-of-12 shots from the charity stripe en route to scoring 14 points. He also had a team-leading six rebounds.

Austin Davis had 21 points to pace five Olivet (1-6) student-athletes in double-figures. Zach Wagner had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

PLNU was able to overcome the Olivet's great shooting performance (67%) thanks to going 29-of-37 at the free throw line and committing just 14 turnovers compared to 24 for ONU. However, coach Carr credits it to the people not even on the floor tonight.

"We don't win this game without that crowd," said Carr.

Point Loma's next game will be at home on Nov. 30 when it hosts West Coast Baptist at 4:00 p.m.