AZUSA, Calif. - The grueling start to the PacWest schedule continued for Fresno Pacific on Monday night as the Sunbirds dropped their fourth straight game, falling 80-69 at Azusa Pacific. The Sunbirds and Cougars came into the game with each team in unfamiliar territory, as the two traditional basketball powerhouses had each begun PacWest play 0-2.

The Sunbirds (5-6, 0-3 PacWest) dug themselves a hole, falling behind by 11 at halftime and as many as 20 in the second half. FPU scored 10 straight points late in the game to close the gap to single digits at 68-60 before the Cougars (4-4, 1-2 PacWest) answered back and put the game away. 

"Right now we're at a point where we really need to get mentally tougher," said head coach Chris Wright. "We can't afford to feel sorry for ourselves because we got a tough draw in the early season schedule, or because we lost a couple close games. I didn't feel like we brought the level of intensity tonight that is needed to win on the road in this conference. We aren't going to make excuses, we're going to grow by having a resolve to work hard every day."

Foul trouble and a big discrepancy on the glass did the Sunbirds in as they fell for the second consecutive year to the Cougars in Azusa. Phil Jackson led the way offensively with a season-high tying 20 points on 6 of 12 shooting. Malcolm Griffin had just 14 points in just 24 minutes, spending most of the night in foul trouble and Jonathan Jefferson added 11 for the Sunbirds.

Troy Leaf led the Cougars with 25 points while Sharif Watson contributed a double-double.

A 19-31 effort from the free throw line didn't help matters as FPU shot just 61.3-percent from the charity stripe, a season-low when taking at least 15 attempts. 

Fresno Pacific will continue its tough start to the conference schedule as the team travels to San Rafael in search of their first conference win this Saturday when they face Dominican at 7:30 p.m.