IRVINE, Calif. – The top seed reigned in the PacWest Men’s Basketball Tournament Championship, with No. 1 Hawai’i Pacific winning its first tournament championship after clinching its first regular season title in program history. The Sharks defeated Point Loma, 82-73.
PLNU’s
Mike Planeta began the game the way he ended the last, with his seventh three-pointer of the tournament.
Jordan Martin answered back for the Sharks just seconds later.
Tanner Lancona hit a three of his own to put Point Loma up 6-3.
Deven Riley hit a three for HPU at 12:32 to tie the game up at 16-16.
Yusuf Shehata led PLNU in the first half with eight points and HPU led 36-31 heading into halftime, with
Connor Looney putting home 11 points.
A three-point shot from
Chauncey Orr gave the Sharks a 10 point lead with 16:11 left in the second half. After only scoring two points in the first half, Orr’s offense came alive in second. Within the first five minutes he scored 11 points and would go on to score 21 in the second half.
Orr’s second-half performance proved to be the difference maker r, and he led the Sharks with 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal on his way to being named tournament MVP. Looney followed him with 19 points in the game. The Sharks outrebounded PLNU 37-29.
The NCAA Championship field will be announced on Sunday, March 5, at 7:30 p.m. PT, streamed live on
NCAA Live.
PacWest Women’s Basketball Championship All-Tournament Team:
MVP: Chauncey Orr (HPU)
Connor Looney (HPU)
Mike Planeta (PLNU)
Josh Rodriguez (PLNU)
Austin Pope (CUH)
Rohndell Goodwin (CUH)