SAN DIEGO - No one can say coach Ryan Looney did not assemble a challenging schedule for the Sea Lions in the early part of 2018-19. On Saturday, the Point Loma men's basketball team faced another one of these challenges when it squared off with No. 16 St. Cloud State in the final game of the Thanksgiving Classic. The Sea Lions weathered an early onslaught by the Huskies before fighting back to take the lead, but St. Cloud State had all the answers down the stretch to secure a 74-65 win. (Nov. 24)
 
Daulton Hommes led the Sea Lions with 21 points and eight rebounds. Ziggy Satterthwaite added 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Gage Davis paced the Huskies with 21 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Jace Kitchen and Brindley Theisen also reached double-figures for SCSU with 16 and 17 points, respectively.
 
St. Cloud State jumped out to a 22-11 lead before Point Loma fought back to trail by just four at the half (38-34). In the second period, the Sea Lions established Satterthwaite in the post. He scored eight straight points to put Point Loma up 45-44 with 14:40 remaining. The teams then traded baskets until the Huskies went on a 6-0 spurt to break a 47-47 tie, and they would never trail again. Point Loma cut the lead to two with under eight minutes, but a three-pointer by Kitchen and a layup by Gage on back-to-back possessions pushed the lead back to seven, and PLNU would never again get the deficit below six.
 
Team Records
Point Loma (4-2), #16 St. Cloud State (4-1)
 
The Turning Point
After Daulton Hommes made an 'and-1' layup with a free throw with 8:00 remaining on the clock to cut the Huskies' lead to two (56-54), the Sea Lions would go on a cold spell. They made just three baskets the rest of the half, including two in the final 1:04, as SCSU went on a 12-5 run to extend their lead from two points to nine points over that span.
 
Words from Coach Looney and the student-athletes
 

News and Notes
> The 65 points is a season-low for Point Loma
> PLNU lost the rebounding battle for the first time this season (33-31)
> SCSU had 11 steals off 12 PLNU turnovers
> The Huskies outscored the Sea Lions by 15 points from behind the arc with Theisen making five of SCSU's deep shots
> This was the first-ever meeting between the schools and just PLNU's second game against a university from the state of Minnesota

Up Next
The Point Loma men's basketball team will open PacWest Conference play on Thursday, Nov. 29 against Academy of Art. The game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m., in Kezar Pavilion.