Hawai`i Pacific made two more steps towards booking a trip to San Diego for postseason play and earned Team of the Week. Shark Melo Sanchez had 30 in one of those games to gain Player of the Week and Academy of Art moved into first place thanks in part to Isaiah Williams stealing the ball ten times in two games.

2023-24 Results/Schedule
2023-24 Standings
2023-24 Statistics

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Hawai`i Pacific's Melo Sanchez, G, Soph., 6-4, San Diego, Calif.                            
Hawai`i Pacific's Melo Sanchez helped lead the Sharks to a pair of wins last week, scoring 30 against Westmont and 12 more versus Fresno Pacific. Sanchez went 8-of-9 from the free throw line in the 82-79 overtime win over the Warriors and hit four three-pointers in notcihng a career high. In the 66-50 victory over Fresno Pacific, the sophomore had 12 points and three assists. On the season, the San Diego sophomore leads the Sharks in scoring (15.6) and ranks seventh in the PacWest. He lists fifth in the conference in three-point percentage (.361) and is second in treys made per game (2.6).
 
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Academy of Art's Isaiah Williams, F, Jr., 6-7, Oklahoma, City, Okla.                    
Academy of Art's Isaiah Williams had five steals in each game last week for the Urban Knights, in a 87-82 loss to Azusa Pacific and a 95-86 win over Point Loma. He also totaled 29 points, with a consistent 14 and 15 respectively against the Cougars and Sea Lions. Against Point Loma, the Oklahoma native had four of his steals in the second half to help keep the hosts from mounting a comeback. On the season, Williams has 42 steals (2.1 per game) to list fourth in the PacWest.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: Hawai`i Pacific Sharks                                                                                                                
Hawai`i Pacific improved to 8-4 in the PacWest and to 13-7 overall with wins over Westmont and Fresno Pacific. The Sharks were the only team in the conference to go 2-0 on the week, moving into fourth place. The Sharks went extra time in Santa Barbara, using Charlie Weber's shot with 16 seconds left in OT to take the lead for good. Earlier, Josh Niusulu scored at the buzzer in regulation to force the extra period. Melo Sanchez had 30 (see above) and Maj Dusanic added 19. On the road in Fresno, Dusanic had 15 points and ten boards and Niusulu had 13 as the Sharks shut down the Sunbirds, 66-50. HPU has now won four of its last five games, with the only loss in that string being an overtime setback against Point Loma. 

ART U, PLNU, BU MAKE THE REGION TOP 10: In today's D2SIDA west region poll, Point Loma, Academy of Art and Biola list seventh, eighth and ninth.. Here is the February 5 list, with records through the weekend. (1) CS Dominguez Hills 18-3, (2) St. Martin's 18-3, (3) Chico State 16-4, (4) CS San Bernardino 16-5, (5) CS Los Angeles 16-5, (6) Montana State Billings 15-6, (7) Academy of Art 14-6, (8) Point Loma 15-7, (9) Biola 14-7, (10) Alaska Anchorage 15-6. RV--CS East Bay, Hawai`i Pacific, Northwest Nazarene. 

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Only three games separate the top six teams in the PacWest, and only 3.5 games are the difference between one and seven. Academy of Art (10-3) has a half-game lead over Point Loma (10-4) by virtue of their head-to-head win on Saturday, with Biola just a half-game back of the Sea Lions at 9-4. Hawai`i Pacific is next (8-4), followed by Hawai`i Hilo and Concordia (7-6). Azusa Pacific is in the seventh spot (7-7), a half game out of postseason contention the way things sit today. The top six teams at the end of the regular season qualify for the trip to San Diego for the conference tournament, March 7-9...Point Loma was in first place for a day after their 85-80 win over Dominican on Thursday. Coby Barnes had 20 to lead the Sea Lions...Biola topped Concordia in their only game of the week, 69-59...Azusa Pacific had the upset of the week with a 87-82 win over Academy of Art. Ken West had 26 points and Bryce Sloan had 20 points and seven assists to lead the Cougars...Dominican then turned around and knocked off the Cougars on Saturday with Marcus McCutcheon owning a double-double with 17 points an 12 boards. The Penguins had 51 second half points in the win...Last week's POW Anthony McIntyre had 26 points for Westmont in a non-conference win over UC Santa Cruz. McIntyre hit 10 of 11 shots from the field...Tyce Paulsen had 27 points in PLNU's loss to Academy of Art...Hawai`i Hilo moved to 13-9 overall with their 69-65 home win over Chaminade. Charles Elize III had 16 points and seven boards to lead the Vulcans...Harrison Pennisi had a total of 40 points for the week for Fresno Pacific in a win over UC Santa Cruz and a loss to Hawai`i Pacific. 

THIS WEEK IN THE PACWEST: Ten games are on the slate this week, many of them with postseason implications, beginning with Tuesday's Concordia at Chaminade match-up. Thursday features Westmont at Academy of Art, Fresno Pacific at Dominican, Biola at Hawai`i Hilo and Concordia at Hawai`i Pacific. On Saturday, Biola is at Hawai`i Pacific, Azusa Pacific travels to Point Loma, Fresno Pacific is at Academy of Art, Westmont travels to Dominican and Concordia is at Hawai`i Hilo. To see the complete schedule and results, click here.