SAN DIEGO - The Point Loma men's basketball team got all it could handle from Dominican (CA) on Monday night (Jan. 12), but a pair of Sea Lion seniors, Marek Klassen and Hayden Lescault stepped up to score the final 21 points of the game to help PLNU prevail 63-58.
 
This was the sixth straight victory for PLNU, and fifth in a row in Pacific West Conference play.  With the win the Sea Lions (12-2 overall) moved into a tie for fourth place in the standings with BYU-Hawaii at 5-2. The loss drops Dominican to 6-10 on the season and to 3-5 in the PacWest.
 
Lescault led all scorers with 20 points. He went 5-of-12 from the field and 10-of-10 at the free throw line. He also added five steals, four rebounds and two assists. Klassen knocked down 7-of-10 shots, including 5-of-7 from behind the 3-point arc. He has now made a 3-point basket in 43 straight games.
 
These two seniors would be relied upon to make big plays for the stretch for the Sea Lions after the game was tied at 42-42 with under 10 minutes remaining. Klassen scored 10 of his 19 in the final 10 minutes of play, including hitting two clutch 3-pointers and two driving layups. Lescault had 11 of his 20 points in the final stretch including converting a crucial and-1 layup and made all seven of his free throw attempts to help the Sea Lions hold off a late charge by DUC.
 
"It is nice to see fifth-year seniors step up and make big plays for us," said PLNU head coach Bill Carr. "They have been around a long time, they don't get rattled and tonight they got the job done."
 
The Penguins had a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer with just 22 seconds left but a stifling PLNU defense held them without a shot and Lescault was able to steal the ball with two seconds remaining to preserve the victory.
 
"Dominican did a very good job of slowing up the ball, muddying up the game a bit and confusing us a bit," explained Carr. "But when you don't turn the ball over you give yourselves a chance to win and that is what we did."
 
Point Loma had just nine turnovers in the game and shot 50 percent from long range (8-of-16). The Sea Lions outscored the Penguins by seven points at the free throw line as PLNU went 15-of-20 from the charity stripe compared to just 8-of-13 from Dominican.
 
"Every conference game is a battle," noted Carr. "You have to be physically and mentally ready each game because they are coming after you and everyone in the conference is hungry to win."
 
The Sea Lions will return to action on Wednesday, Jan. 14 against Academy of Art. The game will tipoff at 7:30 p.m.
 
"We will have to guard on Wednesday, and get some of our pace back on offense," added Carr.