IRVINE, Calif. -- Typically, preseason polls go straight into the trash bin once a season actually starts, but this year’s preseason poll that the PacWest men’s basketball coaches voted on is worth revisiting.
In October, the PacWest coaches anticipated that the top three teams in the PacWest would be Point Loma, Biola and Azusa Pacific. With three weeks left in the regular season, those same three teams have emerged as the top contenders for the PacWest title, except in the opposite order.
However, it wasn’t always clear that this year’s season would turn out this way. Only two weeks ago, Hawai`i Hilo was in first place, and before that, Academy of Art was in first place, while Chaminade was ranked in the top-10 in the West Region.
While more twists and turns are certainly on the horizon, for the moment, Azusa Pacific, Biola and Point Loma have finally created some separation from the rest of the pack in the PacWest title race with all three teams currently on winning streaks of five or more games.
Later today, Biola has a chance to become the first team to clinch a PacWest Championships berth with a win at Holy Names. Also on the schedule tonight is Azusa Pacific’s game at Chaminade as the Cougars look to remain in first place.
When it comes to qualification for the NCAA West Regional, a run to the PacWest Championships title in Fresno is the only way to secure a berth. With this year’s expanded tournament, eight teams will have a chance to reach the NCAA postseason by winning three games in arow in the first week of March.
PacWest weekly awards for the week of Jan. 31-Feb. 6
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Ben Okhotin, Point Loma
F, Sr., 6-6 -- San Diego, Calif.
Since he started coming off the bench in December, Okhotin has found his role with the Sea Lions and has averaged 17.8 points per game in that time. More recently, Okhotin has been a spark off the bench for Point Loma’s five-game winning streak, averaging 22 points per game in those five wins. He has made over half of his shots from beyond the arc in each game during the winning streak, and opened this past week with a 6-for-11 performance from 3-point territory to finish with 23 points. Against Holy Names on Saturday, he was even more efficient, making 6 of 10 treys to defeat Holy Names. He is now shooting .405 from beyond the arc this season and .563 during the winning streak. Point Loma tied the PacWest record for 3-pointers made in a single game with 21 in the win over Fresno Pacific. Point Loma now has 242 made triples this season, which puts the team on pace to break the program’s D2-era record and potentially within reach of the PacWest record.
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Denny Slay, Academy of Art
G, Gr., 5-11 -- Woodbridge, Va.
Slay notched six steals on Saturday to lead Academy of Art to its seventh PacWest win this season at Dominican. The Urban Knights won 63-52 in a defensive battle against the Penguins. Academy of Art held Dominican to just 23 points in the second half as the Penguins were forced into 18 turnovers in the game. As a team, Academy of Art had a total of 13 steals as the Urban Knights continue to inch closer to the PacWest’s top-10 list for steals by a team in the single season. The Urban Knights have recorded 229 steals so far. Slay made four steals in the second half, which were converted into seven points, including four fastbreak points just after Dominican had pulled within one point. Slay has a total of 38 steals this season with only two games all year in which he hasn’t recorded a steal. His tally of six is a new season-high for the Knights’ guard.