Box Score

Fresno Pacific notched an important win on Saturday, defeating Vanguard for the second time this season and snapping a three-game losing streak to get back to .500 in GSAC play.

The Sunbirds led by 14 with four minutes to play, before Vanguard outscored them 9-1 in a two-minute span and closed within three due to the Sunbirds' inability to consistently make free-throws. The team would buckle down though and hang on for a 69-65 win.

"This was one of the few times all year I've felt we defended well for a full 40 minutes," said coach Chris Wright afterward. "I'm extremely proud of the way these guys competed. Give credit to Vanguard, they left it all out there and really made us work in the second half."

FPU (13-8, 6-6 GSAC) led by as many as 17 in the second half, getting points from numerous contributors. The Sunbirds shot 56 percent in the first half, using good ball movement from Adam Kado and others to build up a 38-25 lead.

Casper Hesseldal and Jerante Morgan did most of the scoring in the first half, allowing the team to get a comfortable second-half lead.

The team would briefly let up though and the Lions (5-15, 3-9 GSAC) took advantage, getting a huge second-half from post-player Alex John Chapman who finished with a game-high 22 points.

The Lions cut the lead to five on a three-point play by Chapman with 28 seconds left, after Kado had just hit two free throws to end a drought from the line for the Sunbirds. Kado proceeded to make one more free throw to put the team up by six, but despite a stop on defense FPU would miss two more free-throws.

Vanguard's Christopher Raybon knocked down a desperation three with five seconds left to cut the Sunbird lead to 68-65, but the Sunbirds were able to get the ball in to Deshaun Legree who made the first free throw to essentially end the game.

Hesseldal led a balanced scoring attack for FPU with 12 points, 11 of which came in the first half. He also had nine rebounds. Kado and Matt Christman finished with 11 points apiece and Morgan added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Kado had six assists and Rickey Vick matched a season-high with eight points and three assists off the bench. Jordan Wild finished with seven points and seven rebounds.

"Some guys really stepped up," said Wright. "We had a number of key players in foul trouble and Rickey gave us some great energy off the bench and defended well. Jordan was really solid as well, the numbers don't show it because he was in foul trouble but he played really aggressive."

The Sunbirds shot 51 percent as a team and 57 percent from long-range. 23 turnovers leading to 33 Vanguard points hurt FPU especially in the second half however.

The Sunbirds have now won six straight against Vanguard, sweeping the season series with the Lions for the third consecutive season. FPU is on the road once again on Tuesday night, traveling to Santa Clarita to play The Master's (9-13, 2-10 GSAC).

The first meeting between the two teams came down to the final possession, with Morgan hitting two clutch free-throws to lift FPU in the closing seconds. The Sunbirds are currently in 6th place, but stand one game back of fourth after Point Loma Nazarene defeated Westmont tonight.

Around the GSAC
#2 Concordia 86, #5 Azusa Pacific (H) 83
#16 Biola (H) 67, Cal Baptist 49
Point Loma Nazarene 78, Westmont 77
Hope International 73, San Diego Christian 62