Box Score

Fresno Pacific played well in spurts, but couldn't put it all together on Tuesday night falling 88-82 in Santa Barbara to #21 Westmont. The loss leaves the Sunbirds needing a victory in Saturday's home finale vs. Hope International to earn a spot in the GSAC playoffs.

The Sunbirds (14-15, 5-12 GSAC) refused to let up until the final whistle, cutting an 18-point Warrior lead down to four in the final minute. FPU shot 56 percent from the field and played very efficiently on offense but gave up 13 three-pointers to the Warriors (19-7, 11-6 GSAC), two shy of a Westmont school record.

"When you score 82 points that should be enough to win the game" said FPU head coach Chris Wright. "Give Westmont credit for hitting shots but we really didn't do a good job of guarding the ball. Whether we were in zone or man, we weren't consistently guarding the ball. We did a great job of it on Saturday against Vanguard, but we just didn't do it well tonight."

Donte Nicholas led the Sunbirds with 17 points but the Warriors did a good job of double-teaming him when necessary to limit the damage. Kenny Bradford had 16 points and five assists, Antonio Credit added 14 and seven rebounds, while Eric Hipolito finished with 11 points. Zach Kaul and Matt Christman would add nine points apiece.

The Warriors were led by C.J. Miller's 27 points off the bench. Landon Boucher had 18 and Preston Branson added 17.

FPU jumped out to a 10-3 lead before a Westmont timeout and subsequent 16-2 run. The Sunbirds would stay within striking distance until about 13 minutes left in the game when Westmont stretched a five-point lead into an 18-point lead over a nine-minute span, leading 78-60 with four minutes left.

The Sunbirds outscored them 22-8 over the next four minutes, but it would be too late as the Warriors made free-throws down the stretch to win by six.

This sets up a winner-take-all showdown between FPU and Hope International this Saturday at 4:30 pm in the Sunbirds' final home game of the season. The winner gets the eight seed in the conference playoffs, and a date with top seed Concordia in Irvine, while the loser will see its season come to an end. 

It will also be senior night for Fresno Pacific with Nicholas, Hipolito, Christman and Bradford playing in their final home game. Adrian Hurtado and George DeLeon, who both went down with season-ending injuries this season, will be recognized as well.