NCAA Division II West Regional: Point Loma Nazarene vs. Seattle Pacific
When: 5 p.m. Friday
Where: Golden Gymnasium on campus at PLNU
Records: Point Loma Nazarene is 27-5; Seattle Pacific is 18-14.
Sea Lions update: Coach Justin Downer’s team has won four straight PacWest regular season titles and they captured the PacWest conference championship game over Academy of Art 67-64. Guard Zackry Paulsen scored 19 points in the final after going for 35 in the semifinal win over Hawaii-Hilo and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Tournament after making four clutch free throws down the stretch of the final. It’s the third time PLNU has hosted the eight-team West Regional. Led by All American Daulton Hommes, the 2018-19 team hosted and advanced all the way to the national championship game before losing to Northwest Missouri State. The Sea Lions beat Seattle Pacific 82-68 on Nov. 29 behind a career-high 27 points from Luke Haupt (St. Augustine High School). Paulsen leads the Sea Lions at 17 points per game, while Haupt averages 13.5 points and a team-leading 5.8 rebounds per game. Paulsen’s brother, Tyce, averages 10.6 points per game for PLNU.
Falcons update: Seattle Pacific has won three straight games and took the Great Northwest Athletic Conference conference title by upsetting No. 1 seed Central Washington 72-61 on Saturday. Mason Landdeck was named tournament MVP after scoring 57 points, grabbing 21 rebounds and dishing 16 assists in a three-game span. Guard Owen Moriarty led the way with 18 points in the title game.
At stake: Friday’s winner advances to Saturday night and will face either No. 4 seed Biola or No. 5 seed Cal State Bernardino. The Sea Lions went 2-0 against Biola during the regular season and lost 76-65 at Cal State Bernardino on Nov. 16.
— IVAN CARTER
