IRVINE, Calif. – Senior point guard Robbie Mitchell put together one of his best overall games to lead No. 23 BYU–Hawaii men's basketball to an 84-79 victory over No. 19 Cal Baptist for the PacWest Championship title last week at Concordia University Arena.
Mitchell scored a season-high 18 points to go with four steals and four rebounds. Senior guard Pablo Coro battled off physical, defensive pressure to score 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting. Scott Friel and Danny Berger both added 11 points apiece and had a combined nine rebounds. Friel was named the tournament MVP, while Berger and sophomore center Ian Harward were named to the all-tournament team.
BYU–Hawaii (24-5, 15-5 PacWest) finished the game shooting 48.3 percent from the field and 50 percent from behind the arc, while holding Cal Baptist (24-6, 16-4 PacWest) to 34.8 percent from 3-point range. The difference in the game came from the free-throw line, where the Seasiders hit 17-of-18 to seal the victory down the stretch.
Cal Baptist brought a one-point lead into the second half, but a jumper from Berger gave the Seasiders the lead for good. Berger added seven more points during the massive 17-0 run to make it a 53-39 game with 13:36 remaining in regulation. BYU–Hawaii withstood everything the Lancers could throw at them the rest of the way to hold onto the lead.
BYU–Hawaii will play Seattle Pacific at 11:30 AM HST on Friday, March 13, in the NCAA Regional Tournament at Azusa, California.
For more information on BYU–Hawaii's athletic teams or game recaps, visit byuhawaiisports.com.
