SAN DIEGO, California – The top-seeded Sea Lions managed to put together a late-game rally to overcome the Hawai'i Hilo Men's Basketball team, 74-69, Friday evening in the semifinal round of the Pacific West Conference Championship at the Golden Gymnasium.

The Vulcans played well, but the Sea Lions just managed to perform better down the stretch as PLNU outscored Hawai'i Hilo, 19-9, in the final six and a half minutes of play. The Vulcans went 4 of 9 from the field with just one turnover, but the Sea Lions shot 6 of 9 (5 of 6 at the free throw line). PLNU's Zack Paulsen scored 11 of his 16 total points during that final span.

Overall, the Vulcans shot 48.3 percent from the field with 6 of 9 (.667) splashes from beyond the arc. PLNU posted similar numbers but were fueled by going nearly 60 percent (.592) in the second half of play.

"Statistically speaking, pretty close game. Second half they got going on us, shot a great field-goal percentage on us. They made the big shots needed to make and we couldn't quite get enough stops to get the job done in the end," fourth-year Vulcans head coach Kaniela Aiona said.

Hawai'i Hilo opened the game up early with a 10-0 run midway through the first period of play before capping the final eight minutes on an 8-0 scoring streak to take a 38-27 advantage into halftime.

Point Loma's Wynton Brown came out the break on a mission, managing to score six-straight baskets as part of a 13-5 run to start the first four minutes of action. From there, teams traded points as the Sea Lions slowly crept closer with Brown tying the game at 60 with just over five minutes to play. Brown finished with a game-high 23 points to match his season-high scoring mark.

Charles Elzie III, Carlos Ramsey Jr. and Kalique Mitchell hit clutch buckets down the stretch to keep the game within reach as the Vulcans trailed, 70-69, with under 20 ticks remaining, but that would be it as Hawai'i Hilo's last two shots fell empty and the Sea Lions managed to sink free throws to advance.

Mitchell finished with 16 points and eight rebounds followed by 12 points each from Nadjrick Peat and Ramsey.

THURSDAY, MARCH 7 - FIRST ROUND
» #3 HPU [55] vs #6 Azusa Pacific [56]
» #4 Biola [72] vs #5 Hawai'i Hilo [84]

FRIDAY, MARCH 8 - SEMIFINAL ROUND
» #2 Academy of Art [72] vs #6 Azusa Pacific [79]
» #1 Point Loma [74] vs #5 Hawai'i Hilo [69]

SATURDAY, MARCH 9 - CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
» 2 PM PT - MEN'S: #1 Point Loma vs #6 Azusa Pacific
» 4:30 PM PT - WOMEN'S: PLNU/FPU vs DUC/APU

UP NEXT

Hawai'i Hilo moved to a 19-12 overall record (12-8 PacWest) while Point Loma moved to 21-8 (12-8 PacWest).

The Vulcans' season is not officially concluded as they will await final NCAA Regional selections with the NCAA Selection Show set for March 10 at 5 p.m. (11 p.m. Eastern Time) on NCAA.com. Hawai'i Hilo had not appeared in the three previous iterations of West Region rankings released in recent weeks.

The three champions from each of the PacWest Conference, California Collegiate Athletic Association and Great Northwest Athletic Conference along with the next five teams in the region rankings will qualify for further postseason play starting next week.