FRESNO, Calif.-Behind a 33-0 run that spanned both halves and a season-high 14 three-pointers, the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (4-8 overall, 2-4 PacWest) upended the Dominican Penguins (7-6 overall, 4-3 PacWest) 80-63 Friday night at the Special Events Center.

Michael Mensah knocked down half of those threes with a career-high 21 points and Fresno Pacific flipped the score from a ten-point deficit into a 23-point lead by holding Dominican without a field goal for 10 minutes.

"Its contagious," Fresno Pacific head coach C.J. Haydock said after. "Shooting is contagious. As much as we want to deny it, when one guy makes it, its contagious. Obviously, Mike went nuts but now Spence is going to knock one down and Marten is going to knock one down."

Marten Maide, Spencer Heimerdinger, and Nate Kendricks each made a pair of threes while D.J. Searcy added his first of the season as the Sunbirds incredible run ballooned into their best all-around performance of the season.

The Sunbirds began with Darrin Person Jr. effectively establishing a presence inside, but Dominican built a 37-27 lead by shooting 60% of the game's first 16 minutes.

The Fresno Pacific defense clamped down after Jaayden Bush made a field goal with 3:36 remaining in the first half and the FPU offense caught fire.

Mensah hit his fourth three in response, pulling FPU back within single digits. Kendricks followed with a layup on the next possession forcing Dominican into a timeout.

Kyle Monk delivered an acrobatic layup that dropped in to pull within three before Searcy swatted an open Dominican attempt and backed it up with a corner three to tie the game.

FPU gained the lead on a Ryan Abbott tip-in in the final 20 seconds, closing the half on a 12-0 run.

The Sunbirds piled on 21 points to start the second half before Dominican was able to find a field its first field goal of the half, with just 12:36 remaining in the game.

That proved to be plenty of cushion for Fresno Pacific to wrap up its second conference win of the season.

Person Jr. finished with 13 points after Mensah's team high 21 points. Kendricks added 11 and Maide finished with 10, giving FPU four double-digit scorers for the first time this season.

"Sometimes you have to think about the big picture," Haydock said of his senior forward. "DP flexes the rim so hard. And we have not always put him in the best positions to generate everything else. When he puts that much pressure on the rim, everything else cascades from that.

Fresno Pacific ends 2022 on a high note but will have just two days to prepare for another tough test as it welcomes in Academy of Art to the Special Events Center Monday afternoon at 4:30 pm.

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