(SAN DIEGO) No. 12 PLNU Men's Basketball made history in style on Wednesday night, rolling to a 107-61 win over Chaminade to extend its winning streak to 15 games, a new NCAA era program record.
 
Point Loma (19-3 overall) also tied its best-ever start to a PacWest season by improving to 14-0 in conference play.
 
"That was fun to watch," Head Coach Matt Logie said. "I've told these guys all year that when we get everybody playing to the best version of themselves at the same time and doing it for each other, we've got a chance to be special. I think we saw that tonight."
 
The visiting Silverswords led for just 21 seconds before the Sea Lions put on their best offensive performance of the season, making their first seven shots and sinking 11 3-pointers in the opening half. The team's 56 first-half points are its most scored in any half this season.
 
"That first 20 minutes was an incredible way to start the game, Logie said. "We challenged them to put the whole 40 minutes together and we were able to do that on the backend as well, which shows the maturity of the team and the depth that we have."


 

PLNU made 18 triples for the game, just one shy of the program record of 19 set on Feb. 21, 2019. Point Loma shot 55.6% overall and 45.0% from deep, with seven Sea Lions scoring in double figures, including all five starters.
 
"Obviously we shot the ball well but when you have guys sharing the basketball and looking for each other, that really helps," Logie said. "We had 27 assists on 40 made field goals and that's a testament to these guys' unselfishness and the way they love to play together."
 
After Point Loma's starting five gave the team an early lead, PLNU's second unit extended it even further, with Jake Lifgren (11 points) and Andrew Hommes (10 points, five rebounds) helping the Sea Lions outscore the Silverswords' bench 37-19.
 
Pierce Davis dominated in the painted area with a career-high seven blocks, which is tied for the fifth-most in a single game in program history and tied for the most by someone other than John Anderson in 2001.
 
"It was great to get some of these guys extended minutes," Logie said. "Often times you get your time as a young guy at the end of games or in short bursts and it's hard to play through mistakes or to get your rhythm. Both sides of that coin are challenging, so it was great to get these guys the chance to go up and down.
 
"Pierce did a great job protecting the rim, rebounding and playing inside-out on offense. Andrew is a guy that we're really excited about. He's very talented, he's athletic and can score. You were able to see a lot of that tonight from our bench."
 

FINAL@plnubasketball - 107
Chaminade - 61

B. Goracke | 19 pts
T. Karlberg | 15 pts
K. Anderson | 13 pts, 7 rbs
L. Haupt | 13 pts, 6 rbs, 5 ast
J. Lifgren | 11 pts
S. Campbell | 10 pts, 6 ast
A. Hommes | 10 pts, 5 rbs pic.twitter.com/PaogFkA0kg

— PLNU Sea Lions (@PLNUSeaLions) January 26, 2023

 
Brian Goracke led all players with 19 points, shooting a perfect 5-for-5 from downtown. Tobin Karlberg (15 points), Luke Haupt (13 points, six rebounds, five assists) and Shamrock Campbell (10 points, six assists) all made multiple 3-pointers, while Kaden Anderson (13 points, seven rebounds) also joined them in double figures.
 
The win increases PLNU's PacWest lead to four games over second-placed Hawaii Hilo (13-4, 9-3) with just six games left for the Sea Lions to play in the regular season.
 
"We are grateful to be in the position that we are in but we're not naive to the fact that it took a lot of hard work to get here," Logie said. "We're not done yet. I think the best is yet to come for this program, both this year and in the future. We're excited about where we are but ultimately you have to go between the lines and go win games."
 
Point Loma will have the chance to win another game on Saturday, and improve to 15-0 in the PacWest for the first time ever, when the Sea Lions travel to take on Fresno Pacific at 4:30 p.m.