COSTA MESA, Calif. - The #8 Fresno Pacific men's basketball team continued their assault on the GSAC, defeating Vanguard University 67-55 Thursday evening in Costa Mesa. The Sunbirds remain atop the Conference and improve to 13-1 in the GSAC.

Three Sunbirds shot in double digits to help the orange and blue seal the victory. Junior guard James Lewis, Jr. again led the Sunbirds in scoring with 16 points and four assists. Lewis just recently received GSAC Player of the Week honors and has become an essential part of the Sunbirds offensive threat.

FPU Senior guard/forward Marcus West also contributed in the contest with 12 points and seven rebounds, while teammate Jermaine Jones netted 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds as well.

The Sunbirds were in control for most of the game and went into the halftime break with a 40-25 lead. FPU led throughout the remainder of the second period until the final buzzer, and extended their lead to as much as 20 points with 17:06 left to play in the second half.

"Our bench was tremendous in the first half," complimented FPU assistant coach Chris Wright. "Jermaine, Adam (Kado), and Eric (Hipolito) really gave us a huge lift. We feel that our bench is a big strength of ours and those guys showed it again tonight. Without them we probably don't win this one."