AZUSA, Calif.-The veteran set them on the right foot before the underclassmen on the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (3-12 overall, 2-6 PacWest) closed out a very rare 56-52 road win over the Azusa Pacific Cougars (5-11 overall, 4-5 PacWest) inside the Felix Events Center Thursday night.

Grad Student Avery Lewis looked fresh in his return to the court, and was a third of FPU's first half offense, while sophomores Isaac Peralta and Kyle Monk and redshirt-freshman Harrison Pennisi closed out FPU's first win at Azusa since January of 2016.

"I am really proud of our team," head coach C.J. Haydock said after the win. "Looking forward to continuing to grow in our toughness and togetherness. This is who we were always going to be, but we have to continue to lean and fight for it every single day."

The tight first half never saw either team lead by more than five points, but Fresno Pacific quickly tightened things up, even surging ahead at the end of the half.

The Sunbirds shot 41% from the field in the opening half but were boosted by the return of Avery Lewis, who hit his first five shots after missing FPU's last five games.

Lewis had 11 first half points and was joined by Aamos Laavinen who was also perfect from the field and the free-throw line in the first half.

FPU closed the first half on a 9-2 run to hold a 29-27 lead at the break.

After going 0'fer from deep in the first half, the Sunbirds found their stroke in the second half.

Kyle Monk and Harrison Pennisi each hit threes and spurred the second half scoring for FPU who led by as many as six points in the second half.

After a string of ties, Monk hit a three to put FPU up 49-48.

The Sunbirds widened it with one free-throw, but APU tied it at 50.

Pennisi and Peralta each added layups in the final minute, sandwiching an APU free-throw, to help FPU lead 54-51 with 24 seconds remaining.

With late game fouling coming into play, it was Pennisi who sealed it at the line, fittingly, after a big second half.

Pennisi scored 11 of his 15 points in the second half joining Monk (10 points) and Lewis (11 points) in double figures.

The Sunbirds had the edge in nearly every statistical category over their hosts but scored major advantages in transition (14-4) and in the paint (34-26).

"When your season has looked the way, ours has," Haydock added. "With youth, injuries, brutal close losses, and the 2nd hardest schedule in the region--to have this kind of response from our team the week is about their faith, belief in the process, and maturity."
 
Neither team shot the ball well, particularly well from deep but credit can be given to the defenses.

FPU continues to defend the three-point line well and held the PacWest's 2^nd best three-point percentage team to just 15% for the game (3 for 20)

"Just a tremendous deal of grit, toughness and maturity from our guys," Haydock said. "Gabe Quiette, Alvar Peltoniemi, and Isaac Peralta had elite performances defensively."
 
The Sunbirds swin down to Irvine for one more road game, staying in Southern California to take on the Concordia University Irvine Golden Eagles at 4:30 p.m Saturday in the CU Arena.

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