Atherton, CA - Going into Saturday's game against Oaks, HNU held a ½ game lead on both William Jessup and Menlo College. HNU had to defeat the Oaks as well as have William Jessup loss to UC Merced in order to stay in second place and that is exactly what happened. The Hawks defeat the Oaks 83-71 and William Jessup lost to UC Merced 54-57. With the win HNU takes sole possession of second place and earn a first round bye in the California Pacific Conference Tournament.



A tight affair early saw HNU pull away towards the end of the first half. Holy Names shot 55.6 percent in the first stanza with senior Simba Gwanyanya leading the charge. The native of Zimbabwe led all scorers in the first half with 12 on a lights out 4-of-5 shooting from the floor. A clutch three from Gwanyana and two from fellow senior Obie Woods helped give the Hawks a 38-29 first half advantage.

Credit the Oaks who put together a strong second half, shooting an even 50 percent from the floor in the game's final twenty minutes. However Holy Names didn't allow Menlo to get back in it, mirroring the Oaks 50 percent clip with a 50 percent mark of their own. Menlo found a way to bring the game as close as six in the second stanza, but for most of the period they were trailing by double digits.

"I was proud of my team for pulling together and playing good basketball. Everyone contributed tonight, and it was the little plays I was most impressed with. It's great to be playing good basketball during this time of the year," says Coach Sanchez.

In the defeat the Oaks had four players eclipse the double digit plateau, with ChaRunn Jones racking up a game high 19, including knocking down five from downtown. With 17 points and 17 rebounds, Tim Tatum earned his eighth conference double-double of the season and fellow seniors Alexander Engel and Andrew Young scored 12 and 11 respectively in their final regular season games of their Menlo careers.

In the win Holy Names had four players hit the double digit mark, with senior Karlos Grier earning a game high 24, including hitting 9-of-10 from the free throw line. Simba Gwanyanya finished with 16 points while Zac Sewitsky and Ian Collins chipped in with 15 and 12 points respectively. Notably, Collins added 14 rebounds and McElroy finished with 9 assists on the night.

The Hawks finish the regular season 14-15 and head into the California Pacific Conference tournament as the #2 seed where they will take on the winner of Simpson University and Menlo College inside Tobin Gymnasium.

The game will be Saturday, February 25, 2012 at 7:30pm.Holy Names split with the Oaks this year and swept the Red Hawks this year.