Box Score

Five players scored in double figures as Fresno Pacific held off Hope International 82-66 on Saturday night. The Sunbirds led by 12 at halftime, but the Royals would go on a 13-0 run to start the second half and take a brief lead.

FPU would go on to win, but nothing came easy on Saturday night for the Sunbirds.

"Both games against Hope this year we've had sizable leads, but give them, their coaching staff and players, credit they didn't quit," said FPU coach Chris Wright of the visiting Royals. "Defensively we were not very good tonight, but I was really proud of our effort on the offensive glass."

The Sunbirds led by 12 at halftime after a running three-pointer from near halfcourt by Adam Kado sent the teams to the locker room. After falling behind in the second half, FPU got a quick three from Jerante Morgan and another from Matt Christman and didn't look back.

Morgan had a big night, with 16 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks. He was a big reason the Sunbirds were able to dominate the glass, out-rebounding HIU 46-26.

Kendall Holmes gave FPU a boost of the bench with 15 points and Casper Hesseldal followed suit, scoring 12. Kado and Christman finished with 12 points each, with Kado dishing out six assists.

Jeremy Kilgore and Kris Rosales led the Royals with 18 points each. The Royals dropped to 13-13, 4-12 GSAC with the loss.

The Sunbirds improve to 9-7 in GSAC play and will host an important game on Tuesday night against a nationally ranked Biola team at 7:30.