AZUSA, Calif -- Chalk one up for the Cliff Hamlow School of Defense.

On a night when Azusa Pacific College was immobilized offensively, the Cougars turned to their real strength to advance to the NAIA District III basketball semifinals with a 52-42 victory over UC San Diego.

The Cougars were hungry without the ball.  But you wouldn't have known it once they had it.  They shadowed the Tritons and clawed for leather at one end.  But they were pussycats past mid-court.

Had it not been for their fast break Thursday night, Azusa Pacific might have had to settle for a seat other than court-side Saturday at Occidental.

"That is what you preach to your kids," said Cougar Coach Hamlow.  "You win with defense.  Our defensive had to carry us tonight."

It did.  But only for as long as the offense could give it right back.  The Cougars are no team to get into a shootout with from the perimeter.  They hit on 52.6 percent in 32 regular-season games.  Biola was the only one in District III to shoot better.  It had a 52.9 marksmanship but in 627 less attempts.

Thursday night was no time to match statistics.  Azusa Pacific was only 46.2 from the floor at halftime and 2-for-12 on attempts outside the free throw lane.  It finished at 48.0 but made San Diego's 26.7 percent look like the Tritons were out of their league.

A 49.7 percent shooting club on the season, San Diego continued to put the ball up from outside, figuring the law of averages would even out.  But with exception to center Sherman Johnson, the Tritons had no penetration against Azusa's stucky man-to-man.

"I was really pleased with (center) Steve Barnes," Hamlow gleamed.  "We put him on (Gary) Haynes, their leading scorer, and he held him to one basket."

Haynes averaged 13 points on the year.  But he is considered deadly with 60.7 percent accuracy.  Haynes on Thursday night was 1-for-10.

Johnson did most of the interior work.  Teammates fed him inside when they needed a basket.  But Larry Shelton was in his jersey every shot.  Johnson for the night: 4-for-14.

The Cougars were intense on defense, from the frontline to the backcourt.  So caught up, said Hamlow, their offensive duties was diverted.

"That kind of concentration on defense sometimes affects your shooting.  You'll see high-scoring teams giving up a lot of points.  But tough defensive teams seem to expend their energy on defense.

"We talked an awful lot about defense this week," Hamlow added.  "I guess that's all they thought about."

The opening seven minutes were the last a roaring, rowdy crowd on Western Night would be dazzled by shooters.  Azusa Pacific put together a string of layups with a fast break that wouldn't stop and held a 14-5 lead at 13:01.  Guard Gary Johnson had three of the five lay-ins in a streak that spanned 2 1/2 minutes and outscored UCSD 10-0.

Johnson's steal and breakaway basket prompted Tritons Coach Ron Carter to use a timeout.  And Azusa Pacific did not score for more than four minutes under a blanket 2-3 zone defense.

"I know Point Loma (APC's 6 p.m. opponent Saturday) was here to watch, and I am sure they'll throw a zone at us.  We didn't attack the zone well tonight.  We'll have to against Point Loma," said Hamlow.

"We've beaten a lot of zone (defense) teams.  Grand Canyon College played a 40-minute zone.  You can't add something new to the offense (to counter) at this point.  You have to go with what got you here.

"I'm just glad we played the game here.  The crowd really helped us."

A capacity crowd of 1,012 jammed into Azusa Pacific to rebound shrilling cheers off the gyms crisp acoustics.  And when the visitors fouled, the spectators wouldn't let them live it down.

But the fans weren't so wild when San Diego tied the game at 38-38 with 3:36 left to play.

Jeff Wheeler, in his second game since a month-long bout with mononucleosis, and Mike Anderson triggered a Cougar rally with back-to-back steals that set up Shelton for pair of field goals.  Shelton's second shot put Azusa up 38-35 with 7:30 to go.

The same players were responsible for UCSD's comeback.  Anderson's fourth foul and Wheeler's bad pass were converted into three free throws by Howard Grunloh (1) and Dana Bedard (2).

With 4:51 left Hamlow exercised a deliberate three-man delay in the back court, hoping it would bring the Tritons out of their zone.  But when Bedard stole from Wheeler and tied it, the Cougars had to work the offense.

They went to Shelton, who helped them win a share of the Southern Division title with a 20-points-per-game average.  He hit an eight-footer at 3:20 and put in an offensive rebound at 2:04, giving APC a 42-38 cushion.  

Johnson's two free throws at 1:21 made the difference -- at least for the scorecard's sake.  He gave APC a 44-38 lead and all the breathing room the crowd could handle.

UCSD put on a desperation full-court press, but teammates found Jeff Golden underneath the basketball three straight times for a 50-40 lead.