THE SCHEDULE
Game #26
at Dominican (9-15, 8-10 PacWest)
Thursday, Feb. 23 • 7:30 p.m.
Conlan Center • San Rafael, Calif.
Live Stats • Video • Radio
 
Game #27
vs. Notre Dame de Namur (4-20, 2-16 PacWest)
Saturday, Feb. 25 • 4:30 p.m.
Special Events Center • Fresno, Calif.
Senior Day
Live Stats • Video • Radio
  
Fresno Pacific will close out its 2016-17 campaign with two games this week. The Sunbirds will play its final home game on Saturday, as four seniors will be highlighted as they play in their last contests at the Special Events Center.
  
LAST TIME OUT
R.J. Horn's three with three seconds left lifted the Fresno Pacific men's basketball team over Azusa Pacific 77-73 last Saturday night at the Special Events Center. Horn put together his best collegiate performance of his career, as the freshman scored a career-best 16 points and added seven assists, five steals and three rebounds. Spencer Krannitz added 19 points, six rebounds and four blocks for FPU, while Oliver Herting chipped in with 16 points and five rebounds and T.J. Viney scored nine points and dished out five assists.
 
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.
 
R.J. Horn has been named the PacWest Conference Men's Basketball Freshman of the Week. The conference office made the announcement on Monday. Horn averaged 10.0 points and 7.5 rebounds in two FPU wins last week. He had a career-high 12 rebounds and two steals in a double-overtime win at BYU-Hawaii. He then had career-highs of 16 points, seven assists and five steals against Azusa Pacific. He made the game-winning three-pointer with three second left to snap APU's four-game winning streak.
 
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
FPU is riding a two-game winning streak…the Sunbirds picked up their second double-overtime win of the season on Feb. 13, 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 25 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 (14.9 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 PENGUINS
Dominican currently sits at 9-15 overall and 8-10 in league action. DUC needs two wins to make the conference tournament, while a loss officially eliminates the Penguins from contention. DUC is coming off an 86-82 loss to Concordia last Thursday. Dominican ranks second in the conference in blocked shots per game (4.0), but is 11th in scoring offense (69.3 ppg). Jeremiah Gray is leading the team in scoring (16.5). Henry Uwadiae leads the conference and is 12th nationally in blocks per game at 2.52, while adding 7.2 points and a team-high 5.2 rebounds.
 
CONFERENCE SERIES HISTORY
The Sunbirds and Penguins will be meeting for the eighth time in PacWest play, with Dominican holding a 5-2 all-time mark. The Penguins escaped Fresno on Feb. 4 with an 88-86 win in the last meeting.
 
ABOUT THE ARGONAUTS
Notre Dame de Namur enters at 4-20 overall and 2-16 in the PacWest. The Argos have lost seven straight, most recently dropping a PacWest match to California Baptist 67-62. NDNU ranks last in scoring offense in the PacWest, averaging 62.5 points per game. Tre'shawn King-Dunbar leads the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game while adding 4.2 assists per night. Lance Page adds 11.5 points, while Brian Ying holds averages of 7.9 points and 5.4 rebounds per night.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Friday's game will be the 18th meeting between the two schools. FPU holds a 15-2 all-time series advantage, winning the last eight meetings The Sunbirds defeated the Argos 80-70 in Belmont on Jan. 20 the last meeting.
 
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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