SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific men's basketball team closed the season strong on Saturday, as the Sunbirds defeated Dominican 78-69 behind another strong performance from their underclassmen.
 
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: Fresno Pacific 78, Dominican 69
Records: FPU (7-21, 5-15 PacWest), DUC (5-22, 4-16 PacWest)
Location: San Rafael, Calif. | Conlan Center
Series: The Sunbirds trail 8-4
Get Social: Twitter - @fpusunbirds | Instagram - @fpusunbirds | Facebook - /FPUathletics
 
QUOTABLE:
• "We talked pregame about finishing this thing the right way. Our seniors' character and perseverance earned a better year than what we were able to give them, and I'm glad we were able to send them out the right way. It was another team win and it took everybody tonight. We had a tremendous effort on the glass from Aamondae Coleman and Toby Christensen, and a really good defensive outing from Sam Holmes and A.J. Kirby and offensively Elijah Hill really carried the scoring load with Aamondae. Our future is bright, and it's because of seniors who refused to waver in their belief in our vision for this program, who just held on tight to trying to move it forward every day and build an identity of love, accountability, character and changing our chase every day. I'm very grateful for them flipping the culture of our program, and I think it's clear that the young talent in our program is hungry to continue to grow and compete in a loaded conference."– head coach C.J. Haydock
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
• Each team exchanged buckets in the opening 20 minutes, as the Sunbirds headed into the intermission down 39-36.
• The difference in the game came at the 15-minute mark with the score tied 46-46. FPU ran off a 20-6 run the next 7:30 to take control, which was highlighted by six points from Coleman.
• The 'Birds led by as many as 14 in the second half before finishing off the road victory.
 
STATS OF THE GAME:
• Hill led FPU with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Coleman added a double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds.
• Sam Burt closed out his career with 16 points and six rebounds, Adrian Antunez and Holmes chipped in with 10 points apiece, and Christensen added 11 rebounds for the 'Birds.
• The Sunbirds out-rebounded DUC 51-35 and also received 19 bench points compared to Dominican's nine.
• Jeremiah Gray led the Penguins with 17 points and eight rebounds.
 
BEYOND THE BOX:
• The freshmen class combined for 49 points in the win.
• Burt scored in double-figures in 22 games on the season.
• The Sunbirds graduate Burt, Holmes, Oliver Herting and Rafail Eleftheriou, but return a strong core of youth that will look to make a run in the PacWest next season.