Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Hawaii Pacific University men's basketball team recently completed their trip to Central California where they took on the Westmont Warriors and Fresno Pacific Sunbirds. The Sharks started the trip off with a overtime victory in Santa Barbara followed by a dominant performance in Fresno. These wins cap off season sweeps of both WC and FPU. 

In Santa Barbara, the Sharks were down early but hung around. The game featured 15 ties and 10 lead changes. While Westmont led for 60% of the game, the Sharks were able to get a clutch bucket from junior Josh Niusulu to with just seconds left on the game clock to send the game into overtime. In overtime, HPU was led by sophomore guard Melo Sanchez. On the first possession of overtime, he converted a crucial three-point play. As the overtime period entered its final minute, Sanchez hit a go-ahead 3-pointer to give the Sharks a 79-77 lead. Seconds later, the game was tied at 79-79. The following possession, graduate student Charlie Weber grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in traffic. This would prove to be the game deciding bucket, as the Sharks emerged with a 82-79 overtime victory. The Sharks were led by their captains, Melo Sanchez and Maj Dusanic. Sanchez ended the game with 30 points on 9-16 shooting and Dusancic scored 19 points in just 26 minutes of play. Diggy Winbush added 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 4 assists off the bench in 26 minutes played. Winbush was a perfect 3-3 from 3-point range. 

The trip was capped off with a big win at Fresno Pacific. The performance started slow, as neither team scored a single point for the first five minutes of the game. The Sharks scored 33 points in the final 11 minutes of the first half to take a 35-18 lead at halftime. The second half was much of the same, as the Sharks led by as much as 28 points late in the game. HPU converted FPU's 13 turnovers for 17 points the other way. The Sharks limited the Sunbirds to just 41% FG and 24% 3PT FG%. The Sharks has three players in double figures; Maj Dusanic with 15, Josh Niusulu with 13, and Melo Sanchez with 12. Dusanic also added 10 revounds to complete the double-double. 

The Sharks are back in action this week at the Shark Tank with two PacWest matchups in Concordia-Irvine and Biola. They are set to tip at 6:30PM on Thursday versus CUI and 6:30PM on Saturday versus BU.