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Azusa
Pacific, defeated University of the Cumberlands 72-68 in the opening
round of the national tournament on Thursday. The
Cougars are now 26-9 on the season, and will play Lee University
(Tenn.), which beat Oklahoma Christian University 82-52, on Saturday at 3
p.m. CT.
In the first half, Azusa Pacific outscored
Westminster 31-30 despite only making 9-of-25 field goals and being out
rebounded 16 to 11. The Cougars were benefited
with making 10-of-11 free throws and kept the Griffins to just two made
free throws for the half. Senior guard Dominique
Johnson led all scorers in the first half with 14 points.
Azusa
Pacific pulled away in the second half thanks to a 20-3 run to secure a
spot in the quarterfinals for the fifth time in the last six years. Westminster shot over 50 percent in the first half
but in the second half they were ice cold hitting only 5-of-18 shots,
while the Cougars made 11-of-25. The Cougars, who
ranked 12th in the Division I basketball making .722 percent of their
free throws, connected on 21-of-24 shots from the charity stripe for the
game.
Leading the way to victory was Johnson scoring
17 points and grabbing five rebounds, freshman forward Christian Katuala
scored 15 off the bench, a career high for him, made all seven of his
free throws, with five rebounds, junior forward Reggie Owens contributed
10 points with seven rebounds, and junior guard Mike Caffese had four
points with four steals and seven assists, the latter two were both
game-highs.
"Westminster is about as smart a team as you'll
ever play in this tournament. They take you out
of your comfort zone, and they really did a good job of that against us. Things that we normally do, we just couldn't get done
today," commented Azusa Pacific coach Justin Leslie. "We've
had multiple games where we've had to win at the free throw line, and
tonight the guys knocked them down."
After
the game Westminster head coach Tommy Connor said, "Azusa was terrific
in the second half. Offensively we struggled to
make some shots and you can't do it against a great team like that
because they just stretch the lead on you."
Westminster,
winners of the Frontier Conference, finishes their season with a record
27-6. Leading scorers for the Griffins were
senior forward Weston Anderson who finished with a team-high 13 points,
two rebounds, three assists and one steal, junior forward Ben Walker put
up 11 points, with six rebounds, two assists, and the games only block,
and senior guard Jeramie Hopson scored eight points with nine rebounds.
"Unfortunately
it had to end this way for our team but what a phenomenal year this
group of guys have had and I couldn't be prouder of their
accomplishments," said Connor.
NOTES:Azusa Pacific advances to the
quarterfinals for the fifth time in the last six years and the first
time since 2008. The Cougars are 9-3 all-time in second-round games.
Azusa Pacific closed the first half on an 18-8 run to lead by one. In
the final 12 minutes of the game, Azusa Pacific outscored Westminster
25-8 and out-rebounded the Griffins 12-8. The Cougars shot 57.1 percent
from the field on 8-of-14 shooting and had zero turnovers in the final
12 minutes, while Westminster was 1-of-11 and turned the ball over three
times. The Cougars had three players finish in double figures. Azusa
Pacific's bench outscored Westminster's 27-11, led by Christian
Katuala's season-high 15 points. Azusa Pacific picked up its second-ever
win over Westminster in five tries. The Cougars' only other win over
the Griffins was a 69-55 victory on Nov. 13, 2006. Westminster trailed
at halftime for just the fourth time this season, and was 2-2 in those
games. The loss snapped a 14-game win streak for Westminster. The
Griffins dropped to 1-2 all-time in second-round games at the
tournament. Westminster's Michael Stockton scored nine points on perfect
4-for-4 shooting from the field, including a three-pointer.
Westminster's Ben Walker scored in double figures for the 26th time this
season.
