IRVINE, California – At the top of the PacWest heap, Point Loma kept things rolling with two wins, including taking the rematch against second-place Azusa Pacific. But Chaminade earns the Team of the Week for climbing back into the tournament picture with two upset wins at home. No shocker here, but Point Loma's Kaden Anderson wins another Player of the Week award and Hawai'i Hilo's Nadjrick Peat sent enough opponent shots back to sender and grabbed enough rebounds to earn Defender of the Week honors.
PACWEST CONFERENCE DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
NADJRICK PEAT / F/C / SOPHOMORE / 6'11 / ALEXANDRIA, JAMAICA
For the second time this season, Hawai'i Hilo's Nadjrick Peat is the PacWest Defender of the Week. The 6-foot-11 shot blocker had eight send-backs in two games last week, four each against Academy of Art and Dominican.
The Jamaican had 16 points and nine rebounds against the Penguins, and added 10 more points and eight boards versus the Urban Knights. Thirteen of his 17 rebounds for the week came on the defensive end of the court. His 26 points for the week came on efficient 10-of-14 shooting from the field.
On the season, the New Mexico Military Institute transfer leads the PacWest with 2.7 blocks per game.
AT HALF WAY POINT, TOURNAMENT CHASE TIGHTENS
Hovering right around the halfway point of the season, 11 PacWest teams are battling for the six PacWest tournament spots come March 2-4 at Chaminade in Honolulu. Point Loma (11-0) had opened up a three-game lead over Azusa Pacific (7-2) at the top, with Hawai'i Hilo (6-2), Biola (6-3) and Academy of Art (6-4) close behind. Dominican has the coveted sixth spot (5-6), with Chaminade (4-6) nipping at their heels. The four remaining teams are now all in the win column and still have hope with half the season remaining — Concordia (3-7), Holy Names (2-8), Fresno Pacific (2-8) and HPU (1-7).
SEA LIONS MOVE INTO REGION'S TOP SPOT
In today's D2SIDA men's basketball west region poll, there is a new leader on top of the pack. Point Loma, now 16-3 with wins over Azusa Pacific and Concordia last week, slipped past Cal State San Bernardino. The Sea Lions gained five of the six first-place votes. CS San Bernardino had held the west region's top spot all season and had been ranked as high as No. 6 nationally. The Coyotes split games last week to fall a spot. Five PacWest teams overall are in the rankings, which look like this….1) Point Loma 16-3, (2) Cal State San Bernardino 11-2, (3) Montana State Billings 14-4, (T4) Azusa Pacific 12-4, (T4) Seattle Pacific 12-5, (T4) Saint Martin's 13-4, (7) Hawai'i Hilo 10-3, (8) Academy of Art 11-6, (9) Biola 11-5, (10) Cal State San Marcos 8-7.
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES
HPU's Marquis Moore totaled 47 points last week and 15 rebounds as the Sharks split games on Oahu. Moore had 24 points and 10 boards as HPU got into the win column with a 78-51 win over Dominican … Carlos Ramsey Jr. had 21 points for Hawai'i Hilo in its 81-67 win over the Penguins. The Vulcans went 1-1 on the week, but played both games without First Team All-PacWest standout Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, who was out with an injury … Academy of Art's Mike Asante totaled 31 points and 20 rebounds in ART U's split of games on the islands. Will Balata had 25 points for the Urban Knights, hitting 9-of-12 shots, against the Vulcans. Hilo's Kalique Mitchell had 23 points and seven boards … Luke Haupt had 14 rebounds, 16 points and a monster dunk in Point Loma's 77-71 win over Azusa Pacific, in front of 1,183 fans. Ken West had 20 for the Cougars … Jaayden Bush had 25 points for Dominican in its loss to Chaminade … Holy Names won a shootout with Fresno Pacific, 94-89. LJ Smith had 27 points for the Hawks and Darrin Person had 22 for the Sunbirds … Alex Wright had 24 points in Biola's only game, a 86-81 win over HPU.
KEY MATCHUPS EVERYWHERE AS PACWEST PLAY BEGINS SECOND HALF
Biola and Azusa Pacific make their trek to the Hawaiian islands this week, providing some key men's match-ups. Tonight (Monday), Biola is at Chaminade and second place Azusa Pacific plays at third place Hawai'i Hilo. On Wednesday, Biola is at Hilo, and on Friday APU is at Chaminade. Conference leader Point Loma travels to Dominican on Thursday and the Sea Lions take on Academy of Art on Saturday.
