For Point Loma Nazarene University men’s basketball coach Justin Downer, the morning after the team’s 61-58 loss to Cal State Dominguez Hills on March 17 in the NCAA Division II Tournament West Regional championship game was business as usual.
Breakfast with his children and then into the office at 9 a.m. Phone calls went out to recruits, followed by offseason planning.
“This is the reality of college basketball — the further you go in the playoffs, the further behind you are,” Downer said. “We are a week behind the teams that got knocked out before us. We lose six seniors that have been invaluable to our program. We need to make sure we have enough on the roster to get back to that game and have a different result next year.”
Day 2 was tougher for Downer, who was derailed by a trip to an emergency room for his son to get stitches in his chin after jumping off the kitchen table.
“I am really bummed we aren’t prepping for another game and that I won’t get to coach our seniors again,” Downer said. “The loyalty, sacrifice and commitment this group made to each other is so rare, especially in today’s game. My emotions are less on wins and losses and more on not being able to coach those guys again.”
In a hard-fought, back-and-forth contest, the top-seeded Sea Lions rallied from a double-digit deficit against Dominguez Hills and had two chances in the final seconds to tie the game in front of their home crowd.
On an inbounds play, PLNU guard Tyce Paulsen came off a screen from older brother Zack and missed an open three-point attempt.
After David Cheatom of Dominguez Hills missed two free throws with 3.1 seconds left, PLNU forward Luke Haupt grabbed the rebound from the second missed attempt and launched a half-court shot that looked true before banging off the back rim.
Season over, and Dominguez Hills advanced to the tournament’s Elite Eight instead.
“I like to say I’m the best half-court shooter on the team,” Haupt said with a laugh. “I shot it with confidence. Everybody on the team has confidence in everybody’s shot, and I knew whether it went in or not, my brothers would have my back. I am bummed it didn’t go in so we could keep the season going.”
The Sea Lions closed the season 29-6 overall.
Point Loma was without point guard Jake Lifgren, whom Downer called the team’s best player. Lifgren tore an anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, at the midway point of the 2023-24 season and then tore it again in November during this season.
“I thought there were some [questionable] whistles [in the championship game]; they had some loose balls,” Downer said. “If any of those things go our way, we are talking about how we made the Elite Eight despite not having Jake.”
“We all expected to be beyond this point,” Downer said. However, he added, “the result doesn’t change the historic season we had and all we accomplished along the way.”
The Sea Lions tied the team record for regular-season victories and won the PacWest Conference regular-season and tournament titles.
Following back-to-back losses in December, the team started a book club, reading “The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel Your Life, Work and Team with Positive Energy” by Jon Gordon.
“We called it the bus club,” Downer said.
“We lost two in a row before Christmas break and it felt like the wheels were falling off,” senior guard Coby Barnes said. “It brought us so much closer together.”
Reading requirements led to discussions about the book every other day.
“Not one guy missed a reading assignment,” Downer said. “It opened our team and allowed some guys to speak on things that maybe they had bottled up. It allowed us to get lost in the journey instead of focusing on where we wanted to be in March.”
“What separates this group is the bond and true love we have for each other,” Barnes said.
Looking to next season, Downer said he expects Lifgren’s return to provide a boost.
“Obviously it was his second ACL tear, which is concerning,” Downer said. “He’s doing really well. He’s on pace to be back. There’s not an individual more mentally tough than Jake. He’s built for it. … I have a ton of confidence, and we are ing him as best we can.”
Add to that the emergence of rising sophomore Jaden Matingou, coupled with Tyce Paulsen already entrenched in the backcourt.
“Jaden had a breakout playoff run and Tyce has been Freshman of the Year and third-team all-conference,” Downer said. “With Jake, we have a nucleus that is really talented. Our seniors have ed down a tradition and a foundation. … We have to go finish the job.”
