SAN DIEGO - Well-timed runs right before halftime and in the middle of the second half led the Point Loma men's basketball team to a 64-54 season-opening victory over Western Oregon in the PacWest/GNAC Challenge on Friday, Nov. 14.
 
PLNU trailed much of the first half, going down by as many as seven, but they were able to right the ship before halftime with a 13-4 run to take a 27-25 lead into intermission. After the break, WOU was able to take back the lead and extend their advantage to five at 38-33 before Point Loma went on a 22-4 run over an eight minute stretch to turn that five-point deficit into a 13-point lead and carry it to victory.
 
"I thought we did a good job during those runs of controlling the ball on the defensive end which led to our offense," said PLNU head coach Bill Carr.
 
The Sea Lions had a balanced scoring attack with six student-athletes scoring over eight points. Judd Welfringer led the team with 11 points, while Marek Klassen and Hayden Lescault added 10 apiece. Welfringer added six boards as the Sea Lions' leading rebounder. Lescault also dished out seven assists and had six steals.
 
"I thought it was great that all our starters were right around 10 points and that we had eight points off the bench from Randall (Jackson)," Carr explained. "We shot the ball really well against a really good team. That was a good win for us because they are going to win a lot of games."
 
The Sea Lions' biggest advantage came from behind the arc where they hit 10-of-19 3-pointeers to outscore the Wolves by 18. Klassen and Welfringer each made three treys to pace PLNU.
 
"I thought the ball was moving really well, and you are going to get good really good shots when you move the ball," said Carr. "We found the open guy and we made shots tonight. We have a handful of guys that can shoot it, so it is going to be hard to guard us if we spread you out."
 
Coach Carr was also thrilled with the Sea Lions' defense throughout the game.
 
"Defensively we were solid tonight," he said. "We only gave up four 3-pointers, turned them over a number of times and they only had seven assists (on 23 baskets)."
 
This win for PLNU moves the team to 1-0 on the season and drops WOU to 0-1.
 
"You always want to start the year with a win but we come right back and play again tomorrow so you can't think about this one too long," mentioned Carr.
 
Point Loma will face another GNAC opponent tomorrow in Saint Martin's. The Sea Lions and the Saints will tipoff at 4:00 p.m. to close out the PacWest/GNAC Conference Challenge.