The Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) Sea Lions’ basketball program wrapped up its third straight winning season after a 74-68 loss to the Concordia Eagles in the semi-final round of the Golden State Athletic Conference playoffs (GSAC) earlier this month. “We have a great group of guys. They are good kids who don’t give up. And that is why we’ve been able to build a consistent program,” said coach Art Willmore.
Willmore led the Sea Lions to the GSAC semifinals for the second straight year and posted a 19-13 overall record in his fifth season. The PLNU basketball program has been headed in an upward direction since Willmore’s arrival in 2002. Willmore took over a 5-27 team and led them to the NAIA tournament his first season, but the team then struggled through a difficult 7-25 year in 2004. After that, Willmore led PLNU to records of .500 in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and the team has reached the conference semifinals in four of five seasons.
“Thanks to my staff and the addition of [assistant head coach] Ethan Hamilton two years ago, we’ve been able to get solid candidates and have some good kids coming in, so we are very optimistic about the future,” Willmore said.
Willmore’s biggest task in the off-season will be to replace the core of his team, which included seven seniors: Matt Benson, John Clarke, Brian Graham, Tim Kruge, Jeff Kuhn, Xavier Lopez and Brandon Wilcox.