SAN DIEGO – Hawai'i Pacific University opened its southern California road trip with Point Loma taking an 83-64 PacWest Conference win on Saturday at Golden Gymnasium.
The Sharks (3-12, 0-8) and Sea Lions (10-8, 6-4) were close until a 10-3 run in the second half put PLNU out in front to stay.
HPU was led. junior
Colton Martin of Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound with 13 points and seven rebounds. Junior
Elijah Martinez of Denver, Colo./Regis Jesuit chalked up 12 points to go with five rebounds, while senior
Rodney Hounshell of Richmond, Va./West Linn (Ore.) and redshirt freshman
Jackson Young of Kerrville, Texas/Tivy each added nine points.
PLNU's Ben Okhotin busted out 30 points with eight 3-pointers amongst his 11 field goals in the game. Myles Franklin contributed 15 points and Kaden Anderson just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds to go with six assists.
The Sharks shot a nice 49 percent from the field (25-of-51), including 9-of-25 (36 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU shot 56 percent from the foul line (5-of-9). PLNU shot a strong 52 percent from the floor (33-of-63), with 12-of-31 (39 percent) coming from the arc. The Sea Lions made 5-of-8 (63 percent) from the charity stripe. PLNU outrebounded HPU 36-23 and won the battle of the turnovers 7-to-11.
HPU opened the game on a 10-3 run in the first four minutes, and led by eight with 13:25 to go in the first half on a Young 3-pointer.
But the Sea Lions responded with a 10-3 run to get back within a point, then battled to take a five-point advantage with 2:21 left in the half. HPU redshirt freshman
Kordel Ng of Kaneohe, Hawai'i/Kamehameha then scored on a layup from a steal and Young banged in a jumper just before the halftime horn to make it a 36-35 PLNU lead at intermission.
HPU and PLNU swapped scores in the first five minutes of the second half before the Sea Lions went on the 10-3 run to take a nine-point lead and control the momentum in the contest. PLNU added a 9-0 run later in the half to put the contest away.
The Sharks continue their southern California swing on Monday when they visit Biola for a 5:30 p.m. HST (7:30 p.m. PST) contest against the Eagles at Chase Gymnasium in La Miriada.
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