HONOLULU – The No. 11 ranked Point Loma men's basketball team defeated Hawaii Pacific 68-60 to earn its 10th straight victory, a feat the Sea Lions have not accomplished since the 2007-08 season.
 
PLNU earned the victory on the first game of its Hawaiian road trip thanks to its stingy defense. The Sea Lions held HPU to just .358 percent shooting in the game, and just 6-of-26 from 3-point range. The defense allowed Point Loma to take the lead early in the first half and maintain it until the clock hit 0:00.
 
The Sea Lions went up 36-26 at the half and led 57-38 with 10:35 left in the second half. The Sharks then hit their stride and put together a 17-2 run to cut Point Loma's lead to 59-55 with 3:18 left. Ziggy Satterthwaite put an end to that run with an and-1 layup. Josh Rodriguez followed with another layup to extend the lead back to nine (64-55) and extinguish the Sharks' run.
 
Hommes led PLNU with 17 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Satterthwaite added 11 points on 5-of-7 shooting, and also grabbed seven rebounds. Sterling Somers came off the bench and hit 4-of-6 shots to score 10 points. Darnel Bettis led four Sharks in double figures with 13 points.

Team Records
Point Loma (14-2, 10-0 PacWest), Hawaii Pacific (4-10, 1-8 PacWest)
 
PacWest Implications
The win, coupled with a victory from Concordia, allowed Point Loma to remain 1.5 games ahead of the Eagles for first place in the PacWest standings. The loss drops HPU to 1-8 in PacWest play.

News and Notes
> With a steal in on Hawaii Pacific's first possession of the game, Josh Rodriguez became Point Loma's all-time leader in career steals with 183
> Rodriguez is third all-time in PacWest in steals. He is 54 behind second-place (Xander McNally, Dominican)
> Hommes has scored in double figures in all 16 games this season
> Point Loma is 13-0 in games in which it makes as many free throws as its opponent has attempts

Up Next
The Point Loma men's basketball team will face No. 19 Chaminade on Thursday, Jan. 17 in a top 25 matchup. The game will tipoff at 9:30 p.m. (PST).