SAN DIEGO – A season ago, Point Loma Nazarene men’s basketball bonded over a book club.
After dropping consecutive games heading into winter break, the team began meeting every other day to discuss “The Energy Bus” by Jon Gordon, a motivational guide about fueling teams with positive energy.
This season, with 12 new players and only five returners, head coach Justin Downer changed the team’s tagline from “bus club” to “fight club.”
On March 7, the Sea Lions scraped their way to a Pacific West Conference tournament championship — their second in a row and third in four years.
Point Loma improved to 25-5 with the conference championship, defeating Westmont 94-69, and carries a No. 22 Div. II national ranking in the NABC Coaches Poll, and into the NCAA Tournament after securing the PacWest’s automatic bid.
“We aren’t literally fighting in a cage,” Downer said. “This is our moment to come together, with our backs against the wall and teams bringing the fight to us. We’ve had to be the team that initiates the fight.
“We’re leaving an era of fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-year players with COVID eligibility and are a little younger now. Last year, a lot of guys had been in the program a long time, but this year we needed to take the pressure off and understand our purpose. We’ve got 12 new guys and a target on our chest with the success we’ve had in our conference, and no one’s just inheriting it — we all have to earn it.”
In the championship game, Point Loma set a PacWest Tournament record by making 20 3-pointers. The Sea Lions opened hot from beyond the arc, hitting their first six shots, including the first three by Tournament Most Outstanding Player Caden Harris, who finished with 20 points.
Harris was joined in double figures by Jake Lifgren, who scored 18 points on 6-for-6 from 3-point range; James Nobles, with 17 points on 5-for-5 from long distance; and Andrew Nagy, who added 16 points while connecting on both of his 3-pointers. Junior guard Tyce Paulsen, a program mainstay, added eight points.
“The biggest change over winter break is that it no longer feels like returners versus new guys,” Downer said. “Everyone feels like part of Point Loma, which has allowed players like Andrew Nagy, Caden Harris, and James Nobles to start being themselves.
“In the first semester, it sometimes felt like the returners had to lead and the new guys just followed. That wasn’t the best version of the team, because the newcomers are so talented.”
For Lifgren, the game carried extra significance after missing two years due to an ACL tear and a subsequent retear. This season, he worked his way back from leading scorer to a role off the bench.
“I might not be the player I was, or I might be better than the player I was,” Lifgren said prior to the season. “This is probably the most talented team I’ve been on, and that says a lot.”
Harris, Lifgren, Nobles, and Jaden Matingou all received All-Tournament Team honors.
Point Loma will return to the NCAA West Regionals for the second straight year, marking the program’s eighth appearance in the past nine seasons, as the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Northwest Nazarene on March 14.
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