FRESNO, CA -- A cruel twist of fate, in a deadlocked basketball game, resulted in a loss for No. 7-ranked Fresno Pacific 75-73 against Azusa Pacific on Tuesday in the Special Events Center.

    The Sunbirds and Cougars were tied at 73-73 when Fresno Pacific rebounded a missed Azusa shot with 0.9 seconds remaining.

    Sunbirds guard Jesse Childs immediately called timeout, but the Sunbirds were out of timeouts, resulting in a technical foul.  Azusa's Reggie Owens made both free throws for the two-point margin, and a last-gasp Sunbirds fullcourt pass went awry as the horn sounded.

    "Brutal," said Fresno Pacific coach Jim Saia, referring to both Tuesday's finish and the difficult Golden State Athletic Conference, which includes three teams ranked in the NAIA Top 10. The Sunbirds are 3-3 in the GSAC after going 10-0 in the non-conference season.

    It was an emotional day for Saia, whose wife, Stacey, gave birth to their son Dominic on Tuesday morning.

    It appeared the Sunbirds might pull out Tuesday's game when James Lewis and Todd Brown hit consecutive two-pointers for a four-point lead with 51 seconds left.  But Azusa responded to tie, and won on the bizarre final-seconds technical.

    "This is the kind of game we usually never lose here," Saia said, noting that the Sunbirds had several chances late in the game to ice the win "but we couldn't get a [defensive] stop."

    All-American Lewis, last season's GSAC Player of the Year, led the Sunbirds with 15 points, Childs scored 13 and Alex Davenport 12. Fresno Pacific shot 44 percent from the field but just 28 percent (7 of 25) on 3-pointers.