BOX SCORE
SAN DIEGO – Point Loma men’s basketball won the NCAA West Regional final on Monday night against Saint Martin’s, 60-54, in Golden Gym to lift the West Region trophy for the first time in school history.
Only one West Region team outside the PacWest had defeated Point Loma all season and it was Saint Martin’s, which was the Sea Lions opponent in the championship game. Point Loma never trailed at any point in the last 36 minutes of the game to avenge the loss back in November for the Sea Lions’ biggest win so far in a historic 2018-19 season.
Point Loma has now won nine games in a row and improved to 29-4 on the season. The PacWest and West Region champion will advance to the Elite Eight, which will begin on March 27 in Evansville, Indiana.
“This community on the Point really rallied behind this team,” Point Loma head coach
Ryan Looney said. “These guys deserve it because of the work they have put in all year.”
With seven minutes left in the game,
Preston Beverly made a lay-up to give the Sea Lions their biggest lead at 51-41. The Saints’ defense then held Point Loma scoreless over the next three minutes as they mounted a 7-0 run led by BJ Standley to pull within three points.
Daulton Hommes responded to the run with his fourth 3-pointer of a highly productive second half to double the lead with four minutes left. Point Loma’s defense took over the game from there, holding the No. 3 seed without any points for nearly three and a half minutes.
Tanner Nelson,
Preston Beverly and
Josh Rodriguez all made their free throws down the stretch to ice the victory a earn the trophy.
Hommes finished the game with 25 points, making 10 of 15 shot attempts with five rebounds and two steals.
Ziggy Satterthwaite led the Sea Lions’ offense in the first half with 13 points for a 30-24 lead going into halftime. The Sea Lions’ defense held Saint Martin’s to 34.5 percent shooting from the floor with a 20 percent mark from beyond the arc. Beverly had two blocks and nine defensive rebounds to help lead the Sea Lions’ defensive effort.
Hommes was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player and Satterthwaite was also named to the All-Tournament Team. Point Loma will find out later this week what the Elite Eight bracket will look like when the NCAA Division II men’s basketball committee reseeds the tournament.