SAN DIEGO — After trailing all game, a late surge led No.1 seed Point Loma over UH-Hilo — as the Sea Lions downed the Vulcans 74-69 in the Pacific West Conference tournament semifinals on Friday at PLNU’s Golden Gymnasium.
In three consecutive PacWest tourney appearances, this was UH-Hilo’s first time advancing past the first round. In Saturday’s title round, Point Loma will face No. 6 seed Azusa Pacific — which pulled off two upsets on the way to the finals, defeating No. 3 HPU 56-55 and No. 2 Academy of Art 79-72.
Things were looking good for the Vulcans through most of the game, as they obtained the lead early in the first half and maintained it until late in the second period — entering halftime up 38-27.
During the first half, the Vulcans shot 48.4% (15-31) from the field and 3-5 from the three-point line while Point Loma struggled, shooting 36.7% (11-30) from the field and 4-12 from the three.
UHH also out-rebounded PLNU 20-15, and its bench outscored the Sea Lions’ 26-7 — thanks in part to the return of leading scorer Carlos Ramsey Jr., who sat out Thursday’s first-round matchup due to an ankle injury sustained during warmups.
The Vulcans kept their lead through the first 15 minutes of the second half, but Point Loma won the turnover battle and out-shot UHH to gradually close the gap.
With less than five minutes remaining, a layup by PLNU’s Zach Paulsen tied the score at 62-62. The Sea Lions then scored five unanswered points before the two-minute mark.
With 19 seconds left on the clock, Kalique Mitchell laid up to cut PLNU’s lead to 70-69 — but the Vulcans fouled while trying to force turnovers, and the Sea Lions didn’t waste their opportunities for free points, going four-for-four at the free throw line to put UH-Hilo out of range as the game came to a close.
UHH’s second-half field goal percentage was almost identical to the first at 48.1% (13-27), but Point Loma’s nearly doubled to 59.3% (16-27). The Sea Lions also went 10-for-11 from the free throw line and scored 15 points off of turnovers in the second half.
Mitchell led the Vulcans with 16 points and eight rebounds. Nadjrick Peat notched 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks to finish the season with 48 total blocks. Ramsey Jr. scored 12 points and got two steals.
Wynton Brown led Point Loma (now 20-8) with 23 points, five rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
The Vulcans closed out the season 19-12 overall and 12-8 in conference play. Their graduating class will include Elzie III and Zoar Nedd. Mitchell and classmate Drew Yezbak will be eligible to play for a fifth season, as their freshman years of college were during the 2020-21 pandemic season.
