(HONOLULU) When No. 4 PLNU Men's Basketball played Biola on Feb. 8, Point Loma cut down the nets after clinching the PacWest regular season title with a victory.
This time against the Eagles, the Sea Lions ensured they'd have another chance to cut down the nets.
Top-seeded Point Loma held fifth-seeded Biola to its fewest points in a game this season, as PLNU defeated BU 70-50 in the PacWest Tournament semifinals on Friday to advance to Saturday's championship.
"We knew it was going to be a battle coming into tonight and I thought our guys did a really great job on the defensive end of the floor," Head Coach
Matt Logie said. "Any time you hold someone to 50 points, you're going to have a good chance to win."
After Biola scored the opening basket of the game,
Tobin Karlberg drained a 3-pointer to spark a 9-0 PLNU run that set the tone.
"To start the game, I thought we got off to a good spurt," Logie said. "I thought our guys came out hungry and competitive. We were able to get the tempo going our way early in the game."
Then after the Eagles cut the Sea Lions' nine-point halftime lead down to just three points in the second half, PLNU responded by going on a 17-3 run to thwart any chance of a Biola comeback.
"We were able to find a couple spurts," Logie said. "Eventually our guys were able to see some shots go down. Midway through the second half when they cut it down to three, we were able to get things rolling a bit and hit some shots to separate."
Point Loma hit five triples during that 17-3 stretch, as the Sea Lions shot 14-32 (43.8%) from 3-point range overall for the game.
"You have to make shots to beat Biola," Logie said. "They do a good job of clogging the paint and are very physical inside, so you have to be prepared to shoot over the top."
Anderson, who led all scorers with 23 points, shot 5-for-9 from downtown, while
Shamrock Campbell (13 points) was 4-for-8 from deep.
Brian Goracke (15 points) and Karlberg (10 points) both hit a pair of 3's as well.
"It felt good to see some 3's go down," Anderson said. "Especially in the second half, seeing everyone making shots lifted our spirits and we went on that run."
A stellar shooting night combined with a stout defensive effort has Point Loma (26-3 overall) one win away from adding a conference tournament title to its PacWest regular season championship.
PLNU will look to beat second-seeded Azusa Pacific (22-6 overall) for a third time this season, after the Sea Lions beat the Cougars 73-61 on the road on Dec. 10 and then 77-71 in San Diego on Jan. 11.
"It'll be a great opportunity for us," Logie said. "APU is a great program. They've had a really strong season obviously. They're someone we respect a great deal. Our guys are excited to get a chance to compete again.
"We've taken this whole season one game at a time and obviously we're in tournament season now. There were six teams when we got here and there's two left. We're excited about that and I know our guys will be ready."
Saturday's championship is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. HT / 6:30 p.m. PT, as PLNU looks to win a third PacWest Tournament crown out of the past four conference tournaments.
