IRVINE, California – There were 19 games last week involving PacWest teams as squads continued crossover play. There were some outstanding performances, including Hawai'i Hilo's Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones' 28 points and 13 rebounds in an overtime win over Alaska Anchorage. Academy of Art improved to 4-0 and is the Team of Week, in part because of another outstanding pair of games from Defender of the Week Klay Brown.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hawai'i Hilo's Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, F, 6-6, 205, So., Wellington, New Zealand
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones had a monster game last week to help his team plant a 87-82 overtime verdict on Alaska Anchorage. The New Zealand-native, who has been both the PacWest Newcomer and Freshman of the Year over the past two seasons, had 28 points and 13 rebounds against the Seawolves. He also had three assists, a steal and a blocked shot. He drilled 16-of-21 free-throw opportunities, including 4-for-4 marksmanship in overtime after the Vulcans built a small lead.
PacWest News and Notes
Biola trampled Antelope Valley, 79-53, behind Alex Wright's 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Nathan Medina had 19 points, missing just one shot from the field. Daniel Exparza had 18 points in that loss to Cal Poly Pomona, while Maximo Milovich had a double-double with 11 points and 13 boards ... Lance Coleman had a big scoring week for Concordia, putting up 25 points each in losses to Cal State Dominguez Hills and Western Washington, and adding another 20 against Seattle Pacific ... Point Loma's Luke Haupt had 25 points, 11 rebounds and six assists in the Sea Lions' loss to Minnesota-Duluth. Kaden Anderson averaged just over 22 points in three PLNU games last week ... Dominican's Garrett Siebels was perfect in the Penguins' 72-61 win over Stanislaus State, with 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting, including 4 of 4 from three-point range ... Damiri Lindo had 17 points and eight boards in Holy Names' big win over Chico State ... Fresno Pacific's Isaac Peralta had a PacWest-high 30 points against La Verne, which included 11-of-13 shooting from the field ... APU's Ken West had 17 and 19 points respectively in big Cougar victories over Western Washington and Seattle Pacific ... In a three-point loss to Cal Poly Humboldt, Dominican's Marcus McCutchen had 26 points, nine rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.
Looking Ahead
Twenty three more non-conference games are on tap this week, Tuesday through Sunday. That includes 11 more PacWest vs. CCAA match-ups and also three PacWest-GNAC battles. Azusa Pacific will travel to Nampa, Idaho to take on host Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington, Chaminade hosts region No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino and Hawai'i Hilo begins the first round of the Big Island Classic with games against Central Oklahoma and UC Colorado Springs.
