Box Score

HONOLULU - Fresno Pacific held a 43-37 halftime lead but got outscored 43-26 the rest of the way, struggling down the stretch in an 80-69 loss at Hawaii Pacific. The Sunbirds (11-15, 6-12 PacWest) trailed by just one point, 67-66, with three minutes to go but HPU closed out the game on a 13-3 run.

"I thought we played really hard and really moved the ball well in the first half," said head coach Chris Wright. "In the second half we didn't have an answer for them inside and got a little careless with the ball, leading to some unnecessary turnovers. It's unfortunate we couldn't make enough plays and get enough stops to win tonight because I thought our physical effort was good."

The Sea Warriors (14-11, 9-10 PacWest) shot 61 percent in the second half while limiting FPU to just 30 percent.

FPU's Trevon Clayton led all scorers with 21 points. Malcolm Griffin added 17, Johnell Thompson had 16 and Jonathan Jefferson finished with 12.

Center Farbod Farman had 20 points, 12 rebounds and eight blocks to lead the Sea Warriors. Justin Long added 19 points in the win as HPU evened up the season series with the Sunbirds.

FPU now makes a quick trip to the big island to take on Hawaii Hilo on Thursday night at 7 pm local time (9 pm Pacific).