FRESNO, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific men's basketball team fell to visiting Saint Martin's 73-59 on Friday night in the PacWest/GNAC Challenge.
FPU falls to 0-1 overall on the season, while the Saints move to 1-0 overall. The game marked the head coaching debut for Fresno Pacific's
C.J. Haydock.
Transfer
Kavika Jimenez led the Sunbirds with 17 points, while freshman
R.J. Horn impressed in his collegiate debut with 12 points.
Suhail Mohammadi added 10 points and seven rebounds, while
T.J. Viney scored 10 points to go along with six assists.
The Sunbirds struggled in the opening 10 minutes of the game, as the Saints led by as many as 16 in the first half. FPU fought back the final five minutes of the half, ignited by a 12-2 run, to cut into the SMU lead. The Sunbirds trailed 34-28 at the intermission.
FPU continued to climb back in the second half and cut the lead to one, 46-45, after a three from Horn. The Sunbirds wouldn't be able to come any closer, however, as the Saints managed to hold off FPU the rest of the way.
"It was a tough outcome for us tonight," said Haydock. "We made a couple really good runs, but we just couldn't make the play to get us over the hump. We have to be more consistent defensively and find a rhythm offensively."
The Sunbirds were held to 36 percent shooting on the night, while SMU countered at 57 percent. The Saints won the rebounding battle 38-24.
Tyler Copp led the Saints with 24 points and 10 rebounds.
FPU continues the PacWest/GNAC Challenge tomorrow with a matchup with Western Oregon at 7:30 p.m.
#TeamFPU
