OAKLAND, Calif.-Despite overcoming a ten point deficit to build a late lead, a frantic led game sequence led to the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (4-12 overall, 2-8 PacWest) falling 94-89 in overtime to the Holy Names Hawks (5-13 overall, 2-8 PacWest) Saturday afternoon at Tobin Gymnasium.
Fresno Pacific dug out of a double-digit deficit in the second half and led by as many as five points before Holy Names' season-best night from beyond the arc buoyed the hosts and set up a dramatic finish.
"That's a reall tough outcome," Fresno Pacific head coach
C.J. Haydock said. "We had a lots of bad breaks. Ultimately, I loved our grit in the second half. It just wasn't enough with some breakdowns in critical moments."
The Sunbirds trailed early as the Hawks knocked down a trio of three-pointers in the first six minutes.
But the Sunbirds hung close thanks to
Darrin Person Jr.'s powerful presence inside that drew three different foul calls. Person Jr. accounted for 7 of FPU's 14 points as it trailed by two with 11:49 remaining in the first half.
Holy Names would widen the gap again with four more threes to take a 34-24 lead over Fresno Pacific with six minutes in the half.
The Hawks carried their three-point shooting into the second half with another pair of threes to make it a double-digit difference.
Isaac Peralta and Person Jr. helped FPU chip away at the deficit by getting to the rim.
Peralta also found
Nate Kendricks for an open three to pull the game within just four points halfway through the second half.
Kyle Monk took it from there, pulling closer with a layup before giving FPU its first lead of the half by using a Peralta assist to knock down a go-ahead three.
Ryan Abbott backed it up with a three point play and would later score to expand Fresno Pacific's advantage to five points.
The game hovered around a two possession game in favor of FPU entering the final 90 seconds with the teams exchanging stops and then exchanging buckets before another Holy Names three-pointer made it 74-73.
Nate Kendricks pushed the lead back to three with just 54.9 seconds remaining, but Holy Names hit yet another three to tie it just seconds later.
Holy Names had the ball with 12 seconds remaining before
Ryan Abbott stole a pass and turned it into a transition look, Kendricks tipped in a miss with 2.5 seconds, but Holy Names immediately tossed the ball down court and drew a foul with .3 seconds left to tie the game at the line and send it into overtime.
The extra five minutes saw the lead go back and forth but Holy Names grabbed an 85-82 lead with just 90 seconds left in overtime.
The Hawks hit their thirteenth three of the game with a minute left, doubling their lead to six points and then were able to seal the game at the free-throw line.
Holy Names hit 13 threes on 56% shooting from deep to build their early lead and comeback late in the second half in overtime, relying on the long-ball to overcome four Sunbirds who scored in double-figures.
Person Jr. led FPU with 22 points while the freshmen Monk and Peralta scored 17 and 14 points respectively. Kendricks added 12 points and 4 rebounds.
"I thought we needed to be a little more gritty in the first half," Haydock added. "I was impressed with our response in the second half. We will try to respond, learn and grow, but this one hits our team hard."
Fresno Pacific concludes the long road trip with a non-conference game against UC Santa Cruz on Thursday. The Sunbirds will return to the Special Events Center on January 24
th to begin its biggest home-stand of the season.
SUNBIRD SOCIAL
- Twitter - @fpusunbirds
- Instagram - @fpusunbirds
- Facebook - /FPUsunbirds
#TeamFPU
Â
Â