(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Men's Basketball played a tough nonconference schedule for moments like this.
 
In its first PacWest game of the season, Point Loma took down No. 21 Academy of Art, 69-61, on Thursday night inside Golden Gym.
 
"I thought the schedule we played in November prepared us for tonight and allowed us to learn some lessons that we were able to apply," Logie said. "I was really proud of the guys for their effort. That's a good win that's going to have a lot of legs down the road."
 
Shamrock Campbell had a breakout game for the Sea Lions, scoring a season-high 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting overall, including 4-for-7 from behind the arc.
 
"It was great to see Sham bust out," Logie said. "He's a great player and a great shooter. He's done an awesome job defending and handling the basketball for us and we've just been waiting for that part of Sham's game to burst out. That was great to see. I'm really proud of him."
 
No shot was bigger than his dagger 3-pointer with under a minute to play, turning PLNU's 64-61 lead into a two-possession game.
 
"I just felt confident today," Campbell said. "Kaden (Anderson) draws a lot of attention on defense, so I was just playing through our concepts. My teammates were finding me and shots were falling."


 
Campbell's breakout night began with a triple early in the first half that started an 11-0 Sea Lion run, giving Point Loma an 18-9 advantage.
 
Campbell's jumpshot on PLNU's next possession then gave the Sea Lions their first double-digit lead, 20-10, before ART U cut its deficit to four. Tobin Karlberg responded by hitting back-to-back 3-pointers to quickly restore the Sea Lions' double-digit margin.
 
However, the Urban Knights scored the final seven points of the first half to only trail by one at the intermission.
 
As the visitors retook their lead early in the second half, Campbell had an answer, scoring nine of PLNU's first 13 points in the second period.
 
The transfer from Carroll College scored 17 of his 24 points after halftime, when the Sea Lions clamped down defensively to limit the Urban Knights to just 28 points in the second half. Overall, PLNU held ART U to 33.3% shooting for the game.
 
"I thought we did a great job playing one-on-one defense," Campbell said. "They have a lot of talented players who like to get in space, play one-on-one and create for each other. I thought we did a good job guarding our man."
 
Brian Goracke, who tied his career-high with 17 points, lauded his teammates for sacrificing their bodies when the Urban Knights drove to the basket.
 
"We focused on being connected, helping each other, trying to rotate and making the right play," Goracke said. "We had a couple missed charge opportunities that were blocks, but that just shows the willingness to step in front and make that play."
 
Both Goracke and Campbell scored more than any ART U player, taking advantage of the extra attention paid to Kaden Anderson (11 points, 11 rebounds), who was held to his lowest scoring output of the season after scoring a career-high 46 points on Saturday against Western Washington.
 
"Everyone knows Kaden is the best player but Kaden just wants to win," Logie said. "That's the beauty of Kaden is he always puts pressure on the defense. He always makes his teammates better, not just because of the magnet that he is but also because he's a willing passer. He's unselfish and cares more about the team than himself.
 
"This team was built as a team and we built this group in mind to be able to knock shots down when people collapse on Kaden or draw attention to him. We knew that would come."
 
After the Urban Knights got to within three points with a minute-and-a-half to play, Campbell's clutch triple and five-straight defensive stops allowed the Sea Lions to claim a PacWest-opening victory by eight points.
 
"You've got to give credit to Academy of Art and Coach Waterman for what they're building there," Logie said of last year's PacWest Tournament champion. "They're a very talented team, are well-coached and one of the best teams in the West Region."
 
A win over the second-ranked team in the region gives Point Loma (5-3 overall, 1-0 PacWest) a strong start to the conference season, as the Sea Lions look to defend their PacWest regular season title.
 
"It just shows how connected we are," Goracke said. "We're an experienced group, so if we can win games down the stretch like that, stay poised, stay confident and execute, we'll be really good."
 
PLNU returns to Golden Gym on Saturday at 3 p.m. for another PacWest matchup, this time against Dominican.