Box Score

Fresno Pacific defeated Hope International 84-70 in Fullerton on Saturday night, closing out the game by outscoring the Royals 17-5 in the game's final four minutes.

Adam Kado scored a season-high 23 points for the Sunbirds, who improved to 4-2 in conference play and 11-4 overall. Jerante Morgan finished with 18 points and Jordan Wild added 15 to the victory.

"We found a way to win," said head coach Chris Wright afterward. "I wasn't pleased that the game got to within two, but like our seniors have done all year, they made big plays with the game on the line.”

After leading by double digits for most of the game and building up a 55-37 lead with 15 minutes to play, the Sunbirds began to let up and a re-energized HIU team took advantage. The Royals (10-6, 1-5 GSAC) gradually cut into the lead, getting within six on multiple occassions as the Sunbirds did their best to fend them off.

With just under eight minutes to play, the Royals got as close as they had come since the early first half, cutting the score to 62-57. Matt Christman then silenced the home crowd with a three-pointer on a pass from Kado.

Kado played a major role in the win, not only from a scoring perspective but by maintaining the team's composure in the closing minutes.

“It's tough on the road, when you don't have your crowd behind you," said Kado after the win. "You've really got to be there mentally. The whole time I was just thinking 'We can't drop to 3-3'. There was a sense of urgency to put them away.”

The Royals, after Christman's three, would play with a sense of urgency of their own, getting a breakaway dunk from Orlando Collins that turned the momentum right back around. Deshaun Legree would drive and score for FPU, but the Royals scored the next six points, making it a one-possession game, 67-65, with 4:13 to play after a layup by guard Kris Rosales.

Christman would deliver another one of the night's biggest shots on the next possession, taking a pass from Wild and draining a three to put the Sunbirds up 70-65.

"Those two possessions [Christman's two 3-pointers] were as big as any we had all night," Coach Wright would say after the game. "He's a gutsy guy and is one of the reasons we've been able to pull out close games this year."

With Christman having kept the lead safe, Kado delivered the knockout punch. After slicing to the hoop to make the score 72-65, the senior point guard pulled up for a deep three-pointer that got nothing but net and really took the spirit out of the Royals, who had gone from within two to down 75-65 in less than two minutes.

The Sunbirds wouldn't allow HIU to get any closer, getting stops on defense and sinking free throws to put the game away. FPU shot 55 percent for the game and 80 percent from the free-throw line. Kado finished with a game-high six assists. Morgan led the team with nine rebounds and Casper Hesseldal chipped in with nine points and eight boards.

HIU got most of its scoring from its bench. Matt Green led the way with 21 points and C.J.Harris added 16. Collins was the lone Royal starter in double figures, finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Aaron Woods and Richard Merical had five assists apiece in the losing effort.

FPU faces a tough test in its next game, traveling back to southern California for a 7:30 game at #18 Biola. The Eagles (15-1, 5-1 GSAC) are riding an eight-game win streak.