Conference leader Point Loma pulled off the Hawaii sweep, clinching a PacWest tournament berth in the process. Vanguard’s Erik Howlin led his team to a pair of wins, scoring 33 in a rivalry win over Concordia. Aidan Mandel boarded his way to Defender of the Week, pushing Westmont to a 2-0 mark.

2025-26 Results/Schedule
2025-26 Standings
2025-26 Statistics

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Vanguard’s Erik Howlin, G, Grad., 6-4, 185, La Habra, Calif.                       
Vanguard’s Erik Howlin put up a career high 33 points in a huge win for the Lions against county rival Concordia. The sharpshooter hit 9-of-12 shots from the floor and also had eight rebounds in the 76-69 victory. That 33-point total is the second highest in the PacWest this year. The former Biola standout also had 20 points in a 84-64 win over Azusa Pacific, hitting 8 of 10 shots from the field. The grad guard hit a stunning 17 of 22 shots from the floor (.773), 5 of 7 from three-point range (.714) and was 14 of 18 from the free throw line (.778).
 
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Westmont’s Aidan Mandel, F, Jr., 6-8, Santa Barbara, Calif.                       
Westmont’s Aidan Mandel is the Defender of the Week for the third time this year. The local product pushed his team to wins over Dominican and Concordia with 23 total rebounds (11.5 per game) and four blocked shots. He also added 28 points (14 ppg). He had 15 of those rebounds during a 76-65 win over the Golden Eagles, with a double-double point total of 11. The second-year Warrior is second in the PacWest in rebounding with 8.0 per game.

TEAM OF THE WEEK: The Point Loma Sea Lions pulled off the very difficult Hawaii sweep for the second season in a row. They became the first team to clinch a PacWest tournament berth with wins over Chaminade (93-61), Hawaii Pacific (85-73) and Hawaii Hilo (84-69), topping the trio by a combined 60 points. Andrew Hommes had 57 points on the week (19 ppg), along with 19 rebounds. The Sea Lions nailed 15 three-pointers in back-to-back games against the Silverswords and Sharks. In addition to Hommes’ numbers, Tyce Paulsen had 20 points on six treys at HPU and Andrew Nagy had 23 points of 9 of 13 shooting against the Vulcans.
 
ROAD TO SAN DIEGO: Defending conference champ Point Loma has opened up a three-game lead right now over second place Westmont, but the tighter race is for the six spots that qualify teams for the PacWest Championship, March 5-7 in San Diego. Here’s a look at the top ten teams fighting for those half dozen positions. (1) Point Loma 15-3, (2) Westmont 12-6, (3) Hawaii Pacific 11-7, (4) Concordia 11-8, (5) Dominican 10-8, (6) Fresno Pacific 10-8, (7) Vanguard 9-8, (8) Chaminade 9-8, (9) Jessup 10-9, (10) Biola 8-10.

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Fresno Pacific won perhaps their two biggest games of the season, knocking off Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific on the road. The Sunbirds improved to 10-8 in conference play with an 83-81 win over the Silverswords and a 64-57 conquest of the Sharks. Liam Switzer had 11 points and 12 boards off the bench in the narrow win at CUH and Isaac Peralta had 16 points versus HPU…Dominican stayed alive in the tournament hunt with a 2-1 week. The Penguins cooled off red-hot Concordia 82-78 and topped Azusa Pacific 104-91. Nick Medeiros totaled 38 points on the week with 18 rebounds, 13 assists and four steals…Jessup stayed alive with a split to improve to 10-9. Andre Norris averaged 19.5 points, 2.5 steals and 5.5 rebounds…Biola (8-10) split games as well with Cameron Brown averaging 21.5 points a game…Hawaii Hilo’s Julio Montes II had 28 points in a loss to Jessup, hitting 6 of 7 three-point attempts…Chaminade snapped a six-game losing streak with a 91-82 win over Jessup. The Silverswords trailed by 18 points in the second half before roaring back for the win. Prior to the skid, the ‘Swords were in first place in the PacWest.

WHAT’S NEXT: The final two+ weeks of the regular season looms, with lots of impact games on the slate. Today (Monday) features Westmont at Menlo. Tuesday shows Azusa Pacific at Chaminade, Jessup at Hawaii Pacific, and Fresno Pacific at Hawaii Hilo. On Thursday, Hilo travels to Chaminade, Dominican is at Biola, Vanguard at Point Loma and Azusa Pacific is at Hawaii Pacific. Saturday wraps up the week with Dominican at Westmont, Menlo at Fresno Pacific, Concordia at Point Loma, Biola at Vanguard and Azusa Pacific at Hilo. To see the complete season schedule, click here.