IRVINE, Calif. - The Sea Lions' postseason fate is now in the hands of the NCAA Selection Committee after the Point Loma men's basketball team lost 74-49 to BYU-Hawaii in the first round of the Pacific West Conference Tournament on Thursday, Mar. 5.
The Sea Lions (21-8, 13-7 PacWest), which are ranked No. 8 in the latest West Region poll, will now have to await the outcome of both the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and California Collegiate Athletic Association tournaments and the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday, Mar. 7 at 7:30 p.m., to see if they will be selected as an at-large bid to the West Regional. Each conference postseason champion earns the league's automatic bid, and the other five slots are filled in with at-large selections based on the NCAA Regional poll.
PLNU won the first meeting between the teams, 85-82 on Feb. 14, after the Sea Lions scored the final 13 points of the game, but Thursday was another story. The Seasiders made sure to utilize their size on both defense and the glass in this second meeting. BYU-Hawaii, which usually allows 75.3 points per game, held PLNU to just 49 points on .358 percent shooting. It also outrebounded PLNU 38-25, and had as many offensive rebounds as the Sea Lions had defensive boards (13-13). That point total matched the season-low for the Sea Lions.
"They guarded the ball really well," said Point Loma head coach
Bill Carr. "We struggled scoring in the paint and if we aren't hitting on the perimeter we have to go inside and it was tough today. We didn't score enough inside.
"They were ready to play," continued Carr. "The tempo of the game was good for us. They did a good job moving the ball and getting good shots. They got some things in the paint that we didn't and the credit goes to them."
Pablo Coro paced BYUH with 16 points and three 3-pointers. Luke Aston also scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds off the bench. BYU-Hawaii went 10-of-19 from behind the 3-point line.
Hayden Lescault notched 14 points and three assists to lead PLNU.
Judd Welfringer added eight points and
Mike Planeta came off the bench with seven points.
PLNU trailed 37-28 at the half but
Judd Welfringer knocked down a 3-pointer on the Sea Lions' first possession in the second half to make it a two-possession game at 37-31. Point Loma then had chances on each of its next two possessions to cut the lead in half but it missed a pair of good looks from long range and BYUH put together a 12-4 run to push its lead back to double-figures.
"That was a point we had to bring it back to a one-possession game and it didn't happen," Carr noted.
It is now wait-and-see for the Sea Lions until the Selection Show on Sunday to see if their name will be called in the West Region.
"I feel like we are a great team and it is tough that we had our destiny in our hands and we couldn't get the win tonight," said senior guard
Hayden Lescault. "Now we have to hope and pray we stay in that No. 8 spot. We are going to look forward to that and if we are selected we are going to give it all we have to make a run in the regionals."
Coach Carr was disappointed with the result of tonight's contest but is very proud of the season his team put together. The 21 wins matches the most in the
Bill Carr era (2011-12). It is also the first time the Sea Lions have put together back-to-back 20 win seasons in 25 years.
"We had a really good year," Carr explained. "This team did a lot of things that future teams at Point Loma will have to try and match. They set the bar really high. I am really proud of this team. We are moving in the right direction at Point Loma."
