(SAN RAFAEL, Calif.) PLNU Men's Basketball clinched a top-two seed in the PacWest Tournament with a 72-65 road win at Dominican on Thursday night that kept Point Loma's PacWest title hopes alive going into the final game of the regular season.
Zack Paulsen scored a career-high 34 points, the most scored by a Sea Lion this year in regulation, as PLNU prevailed in the second half after the game was tied at halftime.
Paulsen and
Coby Barnes (15 points) played all 40 minutes for the Sea Lions, while
Jaden Matingou (8 points, 10 rebounds) and
Pierce Davis (7 points, 9 rebounds) flirted with double-doubles.
PLNU dominated offensively in the low post with a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint.
The win sets up a Saturday showdown against Academy of Art with a conference championship on the line.
Point Loma (19-8 overall, 14-5 PacWest) is currently a game behind ART U (20-7, 15-4) in the conference standings, but with a win on Saturday the Sea Lions would earn a share of the PacWest title with the Urban Knights.
If Point Loma beats ART U, the two teams will have split their regular season meetings and the No. 1 seed in the PacWest Tournament would then be determined via tiebreakers, depending on which of Biola (11-8 PacWest) or Hawai'i Hilo (11-8 PacWest) finishes higher in the conference standings.
If Biola finishes higher, then Point Loma will be the one seed based on a superior head-to-head record against the Eagles. If Hilo finishes higher, then ART U gets the top seed because of its better head-to-head showing against the Vulcans.
Tip-off on Saturday in San Francisco is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
