Vanguard held on to beat the Fresno Pacific men's basketball team 77-72 at the Special Events center in a Golden State Athletic Conference thriller that featured five ties and 16 lead changes.

The Lions (12-7, 4-4) took the lead for good at 61-60 on a 3-pointer by Taylor Kelly, who hit six 3s and scored 22 points.

Donte Nicolas paced the Sunbirds (12-7, 3-5), with 19 of his 21 points coming in the second half. He had 10 rebounds and eight assists. Antonio Credit added 16 points, Eric Hipolito 16 with nine rebounds and Kenny Bradford had 13 points.

Vanguard put it away at the free throw line, where it made all 19 of its shots.

Sunbirds women fall to No. 10-ranked Lions

Fresno Pacific gave NAIA No. 10 Vanguard a scare but fell 67-64 in a GSAC women's basketball game at the Special Events Center.

The Sunbirds (11-9, 3-5) saw leading scorer Jenay Herring miss a layup with 3 seconds left. Vanguard's Esther Timmermans rebounded, was fouled and hit two free throws.

Keri Stephanoff led the Sunbirds with 15 points and 12 rebounds. Former Fresno State guard Ali Drennan's 15 points paced the Lions (13-3, 7-1).

Fresno City rolls along in CVC men's basketball race

Fresno City College held off West Hills in Coalinga 84-71 to tighten its grip on the Central Valley Conference men's basketball race.

Junior Morgan had 13 points for the Rams (21-3, 5-0). The Falcons (11-10, 2-3) got 14 points from both Michael Balogun and Kennis White.

• College of the Sequoias (14-8, 4-2) won 72-47 over visiting Merced (1-15, 0-5). Bill Borekambi had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Giants, Chris Dixon 15 points, and Anthony Trammell 15 on 7-of-9 shooting off the bench.
• D.J. Lee hit seven of Porterville's 13 3-pointers and scored 27 points for the Pirates (10-10, 3-2) in a 78-75 victory at Reedley (7-11, 1-4).

Bulldogs swimmers 2nd at San Diego Beach Cup

Stacey Luke set a school record in 1-meter diving, Michelle Dockendorf won the 100-yard breaststroke and Fresno State finished second to host University of San Diego at the Beach Cup.

San Diego won 14 of 20 events in two days and had 342 points. Fresno State had 285.

Dockendorf outtouched teammate Britney Vogel in the breaststroke, with both timed in 1:07.86. Luke scored 294.70 points on the 1 meter, with teammate Hannah Prigge second with 264.40.

In the 100 breaststroke, Dockendorf placed second (2:25.43) and Vogel third (2:27.87). Heidi Gjoen was second in the 100 backstroke (59.73) and Alex Madsen third (1:02.02). Madsen was second in the 200 backstroke (2:08.87).

Courtney Sheehan finished second in the 1,650 free (17:54.53) and Alexis Melnikov third (18:01.15).

• Fresno Pacific swept Cal Baptist and Concordia in a men's and women's tri-meet at Sunnyside High. The NAIA No. 3-ranked men won 155-133 against Cal Baptist and 160.50-144.5 against Concordia. The No. 1 women downed Cal Baptist 156-140 and Concordia 186-101.

Bobby Yribarren (500- and 1,000-yard free) and Jordan Litz (200 breaststroke and 200 individual medley) were double winners for the men.

Cheyenne Coffman captured the 100 back, 50 free and 100 free, and Kendall Swanson the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley for the women.

Bulldogs, Sunbirds hit top marks at Save Mart Center

Fresno Pacific triple jumper Ethan DeJongh and shot putter Milika Tuivanuavou qualified for the NAIA nationals with their performances Friday at the University/Open/Masters portion of the Run for the Dream meet at the Save Mart Center.