The Sharks continue to roll with two big home wins, same for Hawaii Hilo who used defense to shut down BU and CUI. Penguin Brendon Johnson had a career best 31 points vs. Westmont to earn POW.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Dominican's Brendon Johnson, G, Jr., 6-5, Livingston, Montana
Dominican's Brendon Johnson broke out for 31 points during a high-scoring 94-92 win over Westmont on Saturday. DUC scored 53 second half points to rally for the win, their third straight. The Northern Idaho transfer hit 10-of-17 shots from the field, was 6-of-9 from three-point range and nailed all five of his free throw opportunities. Johnson's previous high with the Penguins was 18 points. He has now scored in double figures in seven of his last eight games, including the 12 points he entered into the books in Thursday's win over Fresno Pacific.
DEFENDER(S) OF THE WEEK
Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans
The award for Defender of the Week goes to a team this week, rather than an individual player. Hawai`i Hilo held Biola to just 54 points and Concordia to 56 in a pair of wins at home last week for their second and third victories in a row. The Vulcans held Biola to 42 percent shooting from the floor and clamped down on the Golden Eagles at 41 percent. The Vulcans lead the PacWest in defense, holding the opposition to 67.0 points per game. "Our defensive toughness, communication and focus on details were great this week," said UH Hilo head coach Kaniela Aiona. "Nadjrick (Peat) always anchors the defense but everyone stepped it up on that end of the floor. It was a really balanced team effort."
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Hawai`i Pacific Sharks
Hawai`i Pacific is the PacWest Team of the Week for the second week in a row. Like the Vulcans, the Sharks defeated Biola and Concordia on their own floor, and HPU did so convincingly by a combined +27 point differential. Hawai`i Pacific topped Concordia 66-48 behind Melo Sanchez's 16 points, ten rebounds and four assists, while Maj Dusanic added 15 points and nine rebounds. The win allowed the Sharks to move into third place in the conference standings. On Saturday, the Sharks took down Biola (79-70), this time with Dominique Winbush leading the way with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Sanchez had 17 points and Matthew Van Komen had a double-double with 10 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots. The Sharks are now 15-7 overall and 10-4 in PacWest play.
POINT LOMA AND ART U SWAP SPOTS IN REGION POLL: In today's D2SIDA west region poll, Point Loma and Academy of Art list seventh and eighth. Here is the February 12 list, with records through the weekend. (1) St. Martin's 19-3, (2) CS Dominguez Hills 19-4 (3) CS San Bernardino 18-5, (4) CS Los Angeles 18-5, (5) Montana State Billings 17-6, (6) Chico State 17-5, (7) Point Loma 16-7, (8) Academy of Art 15-7, (9) Central Washington 15-7, (10) CS Eastt Bay 14-9. RV--Hawai`i Pacific, Northwest Nazarene, Biola, Hawai`i Hilo.
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: The Road to San Diego is getting tighter at the top and on the bottom half of the ladder. Point Loma and Academy of Art are tied for first with 11-4 marks, with Hawai`i Pacific just one-half game back at 10-4. Hawai`i Hilo and Biola are tied for fourth (9-6) with Azusa Pacific holding on to the sixth spot at 7-8. Concordia (7-9) and Dominican (6-9) are still very much in the hunt for that sixth and final tournament spot. The conference tournament is March 7-9 in San Diego...Academy of Art went beyond 40 minutes twice to split games last week, falling in double overtime to Westmont (94-92) and then defeating Fresno Pacific in an extra period (88-82). Jamal Fuller had 20 against the Warriors, including two treys in the final 30 seconds of the second OT to cut the margin to one point. Latrell Williams had 12 ponts and 14 rebounds for the Urban Knights, while the McIntyre brothers (Adrian and Anthony) combined for 40 points to pace the Warriors...It was a wild week of games, tipped off last Tuesday by Chaminade's 66-64 win over Concordia. CUI's Kobe Sanders tied the game with 13 seconds left, but CUH's Isaac Amaral-Artharee won it with just tick left on the clock...Dominican went 2-0 on the week with that 94-92 win over Westmont and their 71-59 victory over Fresno Pacific...Biola's Maximo Milovich had 16 rebounds and 12 points in their loss to Hawai`i Hilo...In that Sunbird loss to Academy of Art, FPU's Kyle Monk drilled seven three-pointers and totaled 25 points...Point Loma stayed on defending championship pace with a 81-74 win over Azusa Pacific on Saturday in San Diego. The Cougars led 43-35 at halftime, but the Sea Lions won the second half 46-31...Freddie Dybala had 18 points in just 13 minutes for Concordia in their 66-56 loss to Hawai`i Hilo.
THIS WEEK IN THE PACWEST: Eight games are on the slate, including some week day games beginning with tonight's Biola at Chaminade match-up. On Wednesday, Azusa Pacific visits Westmont, and on Thursday Point Loma travels to Concordia and Dominican is at Fresno Pacific . On Saturday features some great top ladder games with Azusa Pacific is at Biola, Hawai`i Hilo at Academy of Art, Chaminade is at Westmont and Hawai`i Pacific is at Point Loma.
