FRESNO, Calif. - Fresno Pacific fell at home for the first time this season as visiting Hawaii Pacific escaped with a 98-90 overtime victory on Tuesday night at the Special Events Center. The Sunbirds (8-4, 3-2 PacWest) led by seven with 3:40 remaining before the Sharks (7-4, 2-2 PacWest) stormed back to force overtime and eventually earn the win.
 
Gabe Solarin led FPU with 17 points, while Roger Paul and Madison Higgins amassed 16 points apiece. Spencer Krannitz added 13 points and four steals, Oliver Herting scored nine and Suhail Mohammadi tallied seven points and four assists.
 
"I thought our guys played hard and competed at a high level," said head coach Tim Kisner. "Unfortunately, we didn't execute when we needed to down the stretch."
 
The Sunbirds trailed 71-70 with 5:06 to go before Solarin drained a three to give the Sunbirds a two-point lead. Mohammadi followed with a three and Higgins capped an 8-0 run with a jumper that gave FPU its largest lead of the night, 78-71, with 4:11 to play.
 
HPU would fight back, however, and force five Sunbird turnovers down the stretch to jump back in the game. FPU held a lead until four seconds remaining when Luke Hager knotted the game at 81 with a layup after grabbing an offensive rebound. Hager had a chance to give the Sharks the lead with a free throw, but missed to force overtime.
 
FPU couldn't overcome a slow start to the overtime period as HPU poured in 17 points to earn the win.
 
The Sunbirds shot 44 percent from the floor, but finished just 25 percent from deep. FPU drained 24-of-25 free throws for a 96 percent clip. The Sharks countered at 46 percent from the field. HPU out-rebounded the Sunbirds 45-35 and grabbed 16 offensive rebounds to score 20 second-chance points.
 
Chauncey Orr's 24 points, five assists and four rebounds led HPU. Joel Feigler added 20 points and Luke Hager totaled 16.
 
"We have a really good team in BYU-Hawaii next, so we will regroup and be ready to play on Thursday," noted Kisner.
 
The Sunbirds are back in action on Thursday as they host the Seasiders at 7:30 p.m.