FRESNO, Calif.-While the first few months had seemed like all the breaks went to the opponents, not much went wrong in the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (2-12 overall, 1-6 PacWest) 68-59 win over the conference leading Point Loma Sea Lions (11-5 overall, 6-2 PacWest) Saturday evening in the Special Events Center.

Its just FPU's 2^nd win over PLNU in the NCAA DII era and snaps a five-game losing streak against the defending conference champions.

The Sunbirds also avenge a loss from ten days ago in which the 'Birds were down double-digits and pulled within one in the final minutes before Point Loma pulled away.

This time FPU's young nucleus weathered an earlier storm and never looked back.

The one thing that did go wrong for FPU was Point Loma's 13-0 run after the Sunbirds scored the game's opening bucket.

The Sea Lions led 15-5 at the first media timeout and that's when the Sunbirds turned it on.

Kyle Monk hit three free-throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt in the first half right before the opening media timeout.

Ryas Vang was in the middle of FPU's first half surge, scoring all ten of his points before the half, with his last two buckets giving the Sunbirds a 32-28 lead at the half.

A big reason was FPU's dominance in the paint with 20 of its points coming on the inside.

Monk picked it up in the second half, connecting on all of his 3 threes after the break.

After Point Loma's hot-start, FPU's defense was stifling.

The Sea Lions were 3 of 6 on threes in the first half but 3 of 20 in the second half as FPU contested, pressured, and bothered the PLNU shooters when it wasn't forcing turnovers.

Vang had five steals himself to go with a block while Isaac Peralta had a pair of blocks and a steal.

FPU ended up outshooting the PacWest's best three-point shooting team 43% to 23% while simultaneously out muscling the guests on the interior with 36 points to PLNU's 26.

Monk finished with a team-high 14 points while Harrison Pennisi and Isaac Peralta each had 11.

Vang rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10.
 
The Sunbirds earn their first conference win of the year and snap an eight game losing streak with one of their best performances of the season.

It also comes against a Point Loma team that sat atop the PacWest standings heading into the game and had won four straight and eight of its last nine.

The Sea Lions have also historically given the Sunbirds a tough time with Saturday's win being FPU's 40^th in 91 games as both teams transitioned from NAIA to the NCAA at the same time.

FPU's only other win over PLNU in Men's Basketball in the NCAA era came nearly four years ago, in February of 2020.

As much as the win means historically for the Sunbirds, the current group will look to seize the momentum after a number of close games and bad breaks with 14 games still remaining.

With the momentum, FPU will head out for two of its final five road games, heading to Azusa Pacific on Thursday and Concordia on Saturday.

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