HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University saw its 19-game home court winning streak come to an end as defending NCAA Division II champion Lubbock Christian took a 73-52 win Friday evening in the final contest in the 2021 Malika Sports Tours Oahu Thanksgiving Classic at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (3-2) led only after scoring the first basket of the contest before the No. 2 Chaparrals (8-1) went on a 13-0 run and never looked back.
 
Junior Avery Cargill of Santa Rosa, Calif./Cardinal Newman led the Sharks with 16 points, while freshman Allison Ross of Boise, Idaho/Boise came off the bench with 10 points. Senior Amy Baum of Melbourne, Australia/Rowville Secondary added eight points with nine rebounds and five assists.
 
The defending national champs were paced by Allie Schulte with 22 points, six assists and five steals. Ashton Duncan hit six 3-point field goals for 18 points. Juliana Robertson led the game with 13 rebounds.
 
HPU shot 32 percent from the field (18-of-57), making just 6-of-28 3-pointers (21 percent). The Sharks made 10-of-14 free throws (71 percent). LCU shot a season-high 55 percent (27-of-49) from the floor, including a season-best 50 percent (11-of-22) from the arc. The Chaps hit 8-of-12 (67 percent) from the charity stripe.
 
The Sharks opened the scoring with a layup in the lane from grad student Julia Razo of Woodland, Calif./St. Francis to claim the 2-0 lead. LCU came back with a 3-pointer from Schulte to take the lead and start a 13-0 run capped by Duncan triple midway through the first. HPU cut the contest to an eight-point differential at the quarter break 20-12.
 
Cargill cut the lead to five on a 3-pointer in the first minute of the second, but the Chaps followed with a 14-0 run for a 34-15 lead before Baum stopped the bleeding with a layup. LCU held that advantage to halftime going to the locker room with a 41-22 lead.
 
The Chaps built a 21-point advantage in the third before a Ross layup keyed a 10-0 Sharks run to pull within 11 at 52-41 on another Ross layup with 2:01 to go in the period. But the Chaps answered with a 7-0 run to end the quarter with a 59-41 lead.
 
The defending champs held their ground in the final 10 minutes, pushing the lead to 24 before settling for the 73-52 win.
 
For the Sharks, it was the first loss at home since Nov. 27, 2019 when then No. 19 Sioux Falls hit a last second shot to beat HPU 79-77. The 52 points for HPU was the fewest since beating Chaminade 52-37 on Feb. 25, 2017.
 
HPU doesn't have much time to dwell on the loss, as the Sharks open PacWest Conference play on Monday evening against Concordia Irvine at The Shark Tank. Tipoff is slated for 4:30 p.m.