IRVINE, Calif. — Behind the play of seniors Chauncey Orr, Connor Looney and Jordan Martin, the No. 6 Hawai'i Pacific University Sharks won their first PacWest Conference Tournament Championship by beating sixth seeded Point Loma 82-73 on Saturday at Concordia University Arena.
 
The Sharks (28-2) won both the regular season and tournament titles and advance to the NCAA Division II Tournament for the first time since 1999. Point Loma (17-13) suffered its first loss in five games and now awaits Sunday's NCAA Tournament selection reveal to see if its season has come to an end.
 
"It was a hard fought ballgame," said HPU head coach Darren Vorderbruegge. "We played hard against a great opponent and I'm so proud of this team."
 
Orr, the 6-4 senior swingman from Bowling Green, Ohio/Bowling Green, was named the PacWest Tournament MVP after leading all scorers and rebounders with 23 points and nine boards to go with four assists, two blocks and a steal.
 
Looney, the 6-2 guard from Palmer, Alaska/Palmer, was selected to the PacWest All-Tournament Team, scoring 19 points with two rebounds against the Sea Lions and averaging 21.0 points in the tournament.
 
Martin, the 5-11 guard from Goodyear, Ariz./Millennium, scored 10 points with two assists and three steals.
 
Point Loma was paced by Mike Planeta and Zach Burnham with 15 points each, with Burnham leading the Sea Lions with six rebounds.
 
HPU shot 51 percent from the floor (29-of-57), hitting 8-of-25 (32 percent) from the 3-point arc and connecting on 16-of-20 free throws (80 percent). PLNU shot 48 percent from the field (28-of-59), with 8-of-28 from the arc (29 percent) and 9-of-16 (56 percent) from the foul line.
 
HPU controlled the boards 37-29 and both teams turned the ball over just eight times.
 
The game started in Point Loma's favor as the Sea Lions connected on two 3-pointers from Planeta and a triple and layup from Tanner Lancona to go up 11-5 in the first three-and-a half minutes. But the six-point advantage, the Sea Lions largest lead of the game, wouldn't last long.
 
HPU went on an 8-2 run to tie the game on a Deven Riley jumper with 12:56 to play. The teams traded 3-pointers in the next four possessions when Riley, a 6-3 junior forward from Wildomar, Calif./Elsinore came back with a layup for a 21-19 lead with 10:40 to go in the half and the Sharks never trailed again.
 
The Sharks built a seven-point first half advantage only to have PLNU trim it to five at 36-31 at intermission. But that was when Vorderbruegge noticed HPU wasn't playing like itself. Orr only had two points and five shots in the first 20 minutes.
 
"That's not our nature," Vord said to his guys. "I told them at the half we needed to get more shots for Chauncey, and they did."
With the tournament championship, the sixth ranked Sharks earned the PacWest's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament and will learn their opponent and the site of the regional on Sunday. The NCAA Division II Selection Show will be live streamed on NCAA.com at 5:30 p.m. HST.