FRESNO, Calif. - The Point Loma men's basketball team cannot claim that it executed perfectly throughout the game on both ends of the court, but it can claim that it did when the game was on the line to earn a 74-72 victory at Fresno Pacific on Monday, Jan. 8.
 
After seeing FPU take a 72-71 lead on a floater with 35 seconds remaining, PLNU set up a play for Preston Beverly which isolated him on the block for the potential game-winner. From the right block, he worked the ball into the middle and was fouled on the move, giving him two free throws. He confidently stepped up to the free throw line and knocked down both to put PLNU up one (73-72) with 15 seconds remaining.
 
When the teams returned from a timeout, Point Loma came out with a different defensive look, with Noah Stapes guarding the point guard. The move worked as the Sunbirds' six-foot point guard, Adrian Antunez, was forced to shoot his game-winning attempt over Stapes at 6-6, and the shot clanked off the rim where Skyler White collected the rebound, and sealed the game with another free throw.
 
That was White's career-high 14th rebound and second career double-double. He had 12 points to go along with his 14 rebounds, eight of which came on the offensive glass as he had more offensive boards than the entire Fresno Pacific team. Beverly came off the bench to hit 6-of-9 shots for a team-leading 18 points. He also pulled in 10 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. Yusef Shehata knocked down four 3-pointers off the bench to post a season-best 12 points. Antunez went 10-of-17 from the field to lead FPU and all scorers with 22 points.
 
Team Records
Point Loma (11-6, 5-3 PacWest), Fresno Pacific (4-13, 2-7 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
Point Loma is now in sole possession of sixth place in the PacWest standings, 1.5 games ahead of Hawaii Hilo. The Sea Lions have won five of their last six games. Fresno Pacific has now lost five straight games, and falls to 12th in the PacWest.
 
The Turning Point
Point Loma looked like it was going to roll after hitting 11 3-pointers and scoring 46 points in the first half. However, after FPU fought back to take the lead for the twice in the second half, before the Sea Lions got the score and the stop they needed in the final 15 seconds of the game to earn its fourth straight road win.
 
Words from Coach Looney
On PLNU's 11 made 3-pointers in the first half: "Fresno Pacific did a good job doubling down on the post and making it hard to score down there. Our bigs did a good job by making the right reads, getting the ball out and fortunately early in the game we made them."
 
On late-game defensive execution: "In that last situation I talked a lot about what they had done to hurt us earlier in the game, especially from the 3-point line. Their point guard had also been doing a really good job driving to the lane and shooting over our point guards so we subbed them out for Noah Stapes."
 
On late-game offensive execution: "We ran a play to get Preston the ball in a spot that he can be very successful. We told him that once we got it into him he had to get the ball on the rim or get fouled. Whatever decision he made it needed to be aggressive."
 
On defense overall: "Overall I wasn't very happy with our defensive effort. That is an area I believe we can be much better in moving forward, and honestly we are going to have to with some of the opponents we have coming up."
 
On team's 18 turnovers: "I think we are a great half-court execution team this year but we have not been very good in transition. Tonight our point guard tried to force too many plays in that area, and not only did it lead to turnovers, but it led to a lot of transition baskets as well."  
 
News and Notes
> PLNU has won five straight games in Fresno
> The 13 made 3-pointers are a season-high for Point Loma
> The 11 made 3-pointers in the first half matched the Sea Lions' previous season-high for 3's in a game
> Josh Rodriguez had five assists to pull within 12 assists of the all-time PacWest record
> This was the second time in nine days Beverly has scored the game-winning points for PLNU from the free throw line
> PLNU is 5-0 in conference play when scoring over 60 points
> The Sea Lions have outscored their opponent from the free throw line in eight of its last 10 games
 
Up Next
The Point Loma men's basketball team will come home to host a pair of PacWest Conference opponents. PLNU will welcome in Biola on Thursday, Jan. 11 at 7:30 p.m. The Sea Lions will then host Hawaii Pacific on ESPN3 as part of the NCAA DII Showcase on Saturday, Jan. 13 at 4 p.m.