THE SCHEDULE
Game #25
vs. Azusa Pacific (14-13, 9-8 PacWest)
Friday, Feb. 18 • 4:30 p.m.
Special Events Center • Fresno, Calif.
Live Stats • Video • Radio
  
The Fresno Pacific men's basketball team hosts red-hot Azusa Pacific on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at the Special Events Center.
  
LAST TIME OUT
The Fresno Pacific men's basketball team outlasted BYU-Hawaii 94-88 in double overtime on Monday night, as FPU used a balanced scoring attack of five players in double-figures to escape Hawai'i with a win. T.J. Viney led FPU with 24 points and four assists, while Mike Crawley added 22 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals. Spencer Krannitz delivered a double-double of 14 points and 14 rebounds, Sam Burt recorded his second double-double in as many games with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Sam Holmes scored 12 points with four threes.
 
From head coach C.J Haydock – ""I'm tremendously proud of our guys. We had a level of toughness and togetherness that is hard to describe, and that given a whole set of adverse conditions. We just kept battling and battling."
 
PACWEST PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Mike Crawley was named the PacWest Co-Player of the Week on Jan. 9. He averaged 25.5 points and 15.5 rebounds per game, and totaled nine assists, four blocks and four steals in two games for the Sunbirds. He had 16 points, a career-high 17 rebounds, two steals and two blocks in a three-point loss to PacWest leader Dixie State. He then scored a career-high 35 points on 17-of-23 shooting and had 14 rebounds in a win over Holy Names. His 17 field goals were an FPU DII record and the most in the conference this year, highlighted by an alley-oop dunk on the Sunbirds' first possession.
 
Oliver Herting received the player of the week honor as well on Jan. 23. Herting scored a career-best 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Fresno Pacific over Notre Dame de Namur 80-70. He was a force in the middle throughout the night, making 11-of-14 shots and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line in only 15 minutes off the bench. Herting did most of his damage in the second half with 22 points, which included a four-minute stretch where he scored 14 straight points for FPU that included a monstrous dunk.
 
SUNBIRDS ON THE RADIO
FPU Athletics has entered into an agreement with local radio station AM 1680 The Answer to provide a broadcast home for the Sunbirds, beginning with the upcoming men's basketball season. AM 1680 The Answer (KGED) will broadcast all 13 men's basketball home games.
 
SCHEDULE NOTES
The Sunbirds opened the regular season at home with the PacWest/GNAC Challenge that featured Point Loma, Saint Martin's and Western Oregon. The Sunbirds faced Cal State East Bay, Western Washington, Alaska Fairbanks, Cal State L.A. and Stanislaus State in non-conference action.
 
The team's 20-game PacWest schedule includes home games against Point Loma, California Baptist, Dixie State and Azusa Pacific. The top six teams in the league qualify for the PacWest Tournament in Irvine, March 1-3, with the winner receiving the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Check out the full schedule.
 
PACWEST PRESEASON POLL
FPU was picked to finish 11th in the 2016-17 Pacific West Conference standings according to a poll of the league's coaches. California Baptist received 179 points and six first-place votes to top the poll. Azusa Pacific, last season's PacWest regular season champion, was second with 171 points and five first-place votes. Following the two were Dixie State and Concordia in third and fourth, respectively. The Red Storm garnered 161 points while Eagles amassed 156 points and one first-place vote. Rounding out the poll was Point Loma (140 points, one first-place vote), Chaminade (129), Hawai'i Pacific (118), BYU-Hawaii (96), Dominican (93, one first-place vote), Hawai'i Hilo (66), FPU (59), Academy of Art (45), Holy Names (32) and Notre Dame de Namur (25).
 
ROSTER NOTES
First-year head coach C.J. Haydock returns five from the 2015-16 team, including the team's second-leading scorer Spencer Krannitz (14.9 ppg, .507 FG%). T.J. Viney (6.0 PPG, 3.3 APG), Suhail Mohammadi (18.6 MPG, 3.9 PPG), Jeff Bartley (16 GP) and Oliver Herting (.687 FG%) also return for the Sunbirds.
 
The roster features nine newcomers – Mike Crawley, R.J. Horn, Sam Holmes, Kavika Jimenez, Jordan Belasco, Sam Burt, Martin Arambula, Elijah Hill and Rafail Eleftheriou.
   
SUNBIRD NOTES
The Sunbirds picked up their second double-overtime win of the season on Monday, defeating BYU-Hawaii 94-88…the Sunbirds had their first winning streak of the season after downing Chaminade and NDNU in back-to-back games…FPU played its first overtime game of the season on Jan. 14…in the 112-108 double overtime win against Chaminade, the two teams set a record for most combined points in PacWest history…the 112 points scored was the most for FPU since Nov. 18, 2014…FPU made a season best 13 threes in the win over CUH…the Sunbirds snapped a six-game skid with their 85-84 win over Holy Names (1/5)…FPU's win against Academy of Art (12/1) snapped a five-game losing streak earlier this season…the 0-5 start to the year marked the longest drought to start a season since joining the NCAA Division II…senior point guard T.J. Viney is the only player to start all 24 games this season…Viney scored a career-best 24 points in the win against BYU-H (2/13)…Mike Crawley has recorded five double-doubles this season…Crawley scored a career-best 35 points in the win over HNU, making a program record (Division II era) 17 field goals….Crawley pulled down a career best 17 rebounds in a setback to Dixie State (1/3)…Spencer Krannitz is leading the team in scoring (14.7 ppg)…Krannitz scored a career-best 31 points against Western Washington (11/26) and had 30 against Dominican (2/4)…Oliver Herting scored a career-best 29 points, in only 15 minutes, to give FPU a 80-70 win over NDNU on Jan. 20…head coach C.J. Haydock earned his first career victory on Dec. 1 with a 81-77 defeat of ART U.
 
HEAD COACH C.J. HAYDOCK
C.J. Haydock became the head men's basketball coach in April 2016 after serving as the program's lead assistant and recruiting coordinator during the 2015-16 season, following a highly-successful 11 years of coaching in the high school ranks. As an assistant, Haydock played an integral part in all aspects of running the program, working as the Sunbirds' recruiting coordinator and developing FPU's guards. He helped guide the program to its first winning record since 2012-13, a five-win improvement from the previous season. Haydock came to FPU after coaching locally at Immanuel High School where he led the Eagles to back-to-back Valley championships and a ranking as high as #1 in the state in 2014-15. Haydock, the 2015 Fresno Bee High School Coach of the Year, became the head coach at Immanuel in 2011, inheriting a program that had gone 4-23 the previous year. In four seasons with the Eagles he posted an overall record of 70-47, including a 30-3 mark in 2014-15, going undefeated against Central Section opponents across all divisions and reaching the Division IV state quarterfinals.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS
Azusa Pacific enters at 14-13 overall and 9-8 in conference play. The Cougars are currently riding a four-game winning streak, most recently rocking Concordia 84-55 in Azusa on Saturday. APU is averaging 77.3 points per night and ranks third in the conference in threes made at 235. Petar Kutlesic leads the team with a 15.2 scoring average, while also adding 8.4 rebounds per night. Joey Schreiber, who set a school record with a 10-three, 48-point game earlier this season, adds 14.7 points per game.
 
SERIES HISTORY
The Sunbirds and Cougars will be meeting for the 99th time, with the Cougars holding a 75-23 all-time series advantage. FPU defeated APU 94-90 in the last meeting in Azusa.
 
SHOP FPU
The Fresno Pacific Department of Athletics is proud to announce the opening of a Team Store that can be accessed on ShopFPU.com. Fans and students can now purchase apparel for all 14 athletic teams, along with numerous other items, throughout of the 2016-17 season.
 
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