MONMOUTH, Ore. - A swarming Western Oregon defense rudely welcomed the Point Loma men's basketball team to its first-ever NCAA West Regional. The Wolves forced seven turnovers in the first seven minutes to jump out in front of the Sea Lions 23-4. PLNU rallied after the half with a valiant comeback attempt, but Point Loma fell in the end 73-66. (Mar. 9)
 
Ziggy Satterthwaite led Point Loma with 18 points and nine rebounds. Sterling Somers added 17 points and eight rebounds. Tanner Omlid led Western Oregon with 20 points.
 
Point Loma trailed by as many as 22 points in the first half but cut it to 45-29 at halftime. In the second half, PLNU continued to chip away at the lead and cut it to 11 (47-36) with 15:52 remaining. However, the Sea Lions were unable to get within single-digits until the 4:24 mark. The Sea Lions continued fight but Omlid hit a deep 3-pointer and WOU held on for the win.

Team Records
#8 Point Loma (21-10), #1 Western Oregon (30-1)
 
Regional Implications
The loss eliminates PLNU from the 2018 NCAA West Regional. Western Oregon will move on to face No. 5 seed Saint Martin's in the semifinals on Saturday, Mar. 10 at 7:30 p.m.  

The Turning Point
The 23-4 run to start the game put the Sea Lions in a huge hole. They never led in the contest and had to fight to make it a game in the second half.
 
Words from Coach Looney
On the slow start: "The first 10 minutes of the game we looked like we had never been here before. When we dig that big of a hole it is hard to fight back. We expended a lot of energy to get back within striking distance."
 
On halftime adjustments: "All year we have tried to establish an identity on offense and defense, but because of the moment it was not displayed early on. The entire conversation at halftime was about who we are and about who we want to be."
 
On PLNU's first-ever NCAA Regional appearance: "It is great for our program that we got a taste of the regional. Right now our guys are even more hungry as we start to prepare for next year."
 
On the early foul trouble: "It affected us a ton. We had two guys in our 10-man rotation that were injured and didn't play tonight, and then we had three starters with three fouls in the first half. I don't want to say it killed us, but it was pretty close."
 
News and Notes
> Point Loma was 5-10 this season when scoring under 70 points
> Western Oregon had just 12 turnovers compared to Point Loma's 22
> The 22 turnovers for PLNU were a season-high
> PLNU won the rebounding battle tonight, 42-29, and in 27 of 31 games this season
> The Sea Lions left nine points at the free throw line (15-of-24) and fell by seven
> Both teams shot over 41 percent in the game (PLNU .460%, WOU .413%)

The Final Game
This completes the 2017-18 season for the PLNU men's basketball team.