SAN DIEGO - The freshmen guard duo of Jack Langborg and Josh Rodriguez combined for 35 points to give Point Loma men's basketball fans a glimpse of the future, but on this afternoon Hawaii Pacific proved to be too much for the Sea Lions, as they opened the game on a 17-0 run and went on to win 79-64 (Feb. 6).
 
This is back-to-back losses for Point Loma (11-9, 6-7 PacWest) after a four-game winning streak. The Sea Lions are now 10th in the PacWest. The victory moved HPU (15-7, 10-5 PacWest) to fourth in the conference standings, just a half game back of second place Azusa Pacific.
 
Luke Hager was a force for the Sharks with 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting. He scored the team's first eight points, and had 12 of the 17 points in the run to start the game. He added six rebounds and helped HPU shoot 55 percent from the field.
 
When the Sea Lions regrouped from the early offensive onslaught by the Sharks they made a run of their own, cutting the lead to 26-22 on a 3-pointer by Rodriguez with 6:37 left in the first half. Hawaii Pacific answered right back with a 9-1 run to take a 43-30 lead at halftime and Point Loma would never get the deficit into single-digits.
 
Langborg hit five 3-pointers to score 17 points off the bench for Point Loma. Both were career-highs for the freshman from Solana Beach (Santa Fe Christian). Rodriguez led Point Loma with 18 points and six assists. Zach Burnham just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
 
"Jack came in and gave us a good lift off the bench," said Point Loma head coach Bill Carr. "He knocked down some 3's and did a good job on defense. Josh was able to get to the rim and got guys their shots. Both played very well."
 
It was critical for the Sea Lions that both freshmen and everyone played well as they were down to just six players after Cameron Gilbert was injured midway through the second half. All seven student-athletes that got into the contest tonight played at least 10 minutes.
 
"I think this happens in sports," explained Carr. "You get some injuries and you have to figure it out a way to win. We win continue to work at it and keep giving effort. "
 
The Sea Lions next game will be Thursday, Feb. 11 when it hosts Dominican (CA) at 7:30 p.m. PLNU will also go to APU next Saturday (Feb. 13) and host Academy of Art on Monday (Feb. 15) in a critical last season stretch.
 
"We need to have a good week of practice heading into this three-game stretch around the weekend," coach Carr added. "We have to get better."