(SAN DIEGO) No. 8 PLNU Men's Basketball won its 30th-consecutive PacWest game in record-breaking fashion, hitting a program and conference record 22 3-pointers in a 120-74 win over Hawaii Pacific on Saturday night inside a rocking Golden Gym.
Point Loma becomes the first PacWest team to win 30-consecutive conference games.
"It means a lot to me because we always talk to these guys about how difficult it is to win the regular season conference championship," Head Coach
Matt Logie said. "Everyone plays each other twice, it's home-and-home. There are challenges to everyone's schedules.
"Part of that streak is a credit to the group that we had last year that got it going at the end of the year and then what these guys have done this year is just spectacular. It's been a joy to be a part of it and hopefully we can keep it going next week."
Point Loma made eight of its first nine 3-pointers, as PLNU went on an 18-0 run in less than a three-minute span in the first half to develop a 19-point advantage.
"In the first four minutes, the first segment, our defense wasn't as aggressive as we wanted," Logie said. "I thought we turned the intensity up a little bit as the half moved along. That allowed us to get out in transition.
"Our defense has keyed us all year long. I think that's one of the areas this program has grown the most in in the last couple years. When you're able to get stops and get out in transition, then we're pretty hard to defend."
The Sea Lions shot 11-for-17 from behind the arc in the first half on their way to scoring 58 points in the opening 20 minutes, their most in any half this season.
Point Loma then made another 11 triples in the second half, breaking the previous single-game program and PacWest record of 21 set last season against Fresno Pacific on Feb. 3, 2022.
"The key today was our guys sharing the basketball," Logie said. "Any time you have 29 assists on 44 makes, with only five turnovers, you're playing good offense. These guys, I've said all year long, love playing together.
"They play through our concepts and do it together. They don't care who gets the credit. When you play the game that way, it's a beautiful thing to watch."
PLNU reached the century mark in points for the second time this season, after
Pierce Davis' 3-point play at the 6:53 mark.
Point Loma scored another 20 after that, finishing a single point shy of their NCAA Division II era program record (121 vs. Pacific University on Dec. 20, 2021).
Five Sea Lions scored in double figures, led by
Kaden Anderson (27 points), who scored 20 in the first half alone.
Shamrock Campbell and
Tobin Karlberg each scored 17 apiece, while
Brian Goracke (13 points) and Davis (10 points) also reached double digits.
Luke Haupt (9 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds) and
Jake Lifgren (6 points, 8 assists) combined for over half of PLNU's 29 assists.
Point Loma (24-3 overall, 19-0 PacWest) concludes its regular season on Thursday, when PLNU hosts Hawaii Hilo at 7:30 p.m. on Senior Night.
The Sea Lions are hoping to become the first-ever PacWest team to go 20-0 in the conference regular season.
"It's a special opportunity," Karlberg said. "You really have to take it one game at a time and thankfully we've put ourselves in a spot where if we take care of this next game, we'll reach that big milestone. We know there's a lot more work to be done after that so we're just excited to keep it rolling."
