Bethel Leads APU To GSAC First-Round Win

AZUSA, CALIF. -- Junior guard Chris Bethel scored 23 points, one shy of his career high, to lead the NAIA's No. 9-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 76-70 victory over Fresno Pacific in the first round of the GSAC Postseason Men's Basketball Tournament in the Cougardome, Wednesday night.

Bethel scored 13 points in the second half, all in the final 12 minutes after Fresno Pacific rallied from a 26-22 halftime deficit to take a 45-44 lead with 13:15 left in the game. In fact after making just 9-of-23 shots in the first half, the Sunbirds came out red hot in the second half, making the first 10 shots of the half, and concluded by making 20-of-24 (83.3%) shots in the second half. But the Cougars force nine Fresno Pacific turnovers in the final 13 minutes to preserve the win. The Sunbirds pulled two within three points at 73-70 with 40 seconds to play.

GSAC player of the year Eric watch free added 16 points, 11 in the second half, and grabbed seven rebounds to aid the cougar cause.

All-GSAC center Don Moore tossed in 22 points and collected a team-high seven rebounds to lead Fresno Pacific. Moore was 8-of-8 from the floor in the second half and scored eight of the sunbirds first 10 points of the second half.

"We got after them defensively and that was the changing of the game to me," said Azusa Pacific Head Coach Bill Odell. "We kept their number of shots down, but we made too many mental errors. Still, Chris had a big game and Eric was solid on the inside. Forcing the turnovers was big for us."

Azusa Pacific, which has won four straight and 10 of its past 11, led by 11 points at 24-13 with 2:42 left in the first half before Fresno Pacific closed the half with a 9-2 run to pull to within 4 points at halftime.

Now 25-6 on the season, Azusa Pacific advances to Saturday's semifinals at Whittier College where it will play Cal Baptist, a 98-80 upset winner at Concordia tonight, at 8 p.m. The other semifinal has Westmont meeting Southern California College at 5:30 p.m. Fresno Pacific concludes its season at 13-16.

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