SEATTLE, WASH. -- Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 25 in the NAIA Preseason poll, proved that simple free throw shooting can beat long-distance bombs in thumping Western Washington, 88-66, Friday night in the opening round of the Vitamilk Classic hosted by Seattle Pacific University.

Azusa Pacific put the shackles on Western's 3-point shooting and in the process went to the line 25 times in the second half, canning 21 of those free throw attempts, to overcome a 2-point half time deficit and post a rather easy victory over highly-regarded Western Washington.

Cougar guards T.J. Walker and Jason Boswell scored career highs of 26 and 23 points, respectively , to lead Azusa Pacific, and Nate Getz added 10 points and 5 rebounds.

With Western Washington up 43-40 early in the second half, Azusa Pacific went on a 17-5 run over a 6-minute strech with 13 of those points coming at the charity stripe. When Boswell canned a pair with 11:46 left in the game, the Cougars found themselves up 57-48, and coasted in for the win.

"I told the players at half time that we have to go inside," said Azusa Pacific coach Bill Odell. "We didn't look inside at all in the first half, and had it not been for our perimeter play, we could have been down by a lot at the half. But once we started to attack the inside, our entire offense opened up."

The first half was a simple case of 3-point shooting Western's ability to can the long-distance bomb and Azusa Pacific's failure from the 3-point arc. Down 10-6 five minutes into the game, WWU went on a 14-0 run to take a commanding 20-10 lead. However, the Cougars raced back with their own 10-0 run to knot the score at 20-20. When Getz nailed pair of free throws with 1:56 left in the half, the Cougars appeared to have a comfortable 34-29 lead. WWU, though, made 3 consecutive treys, including a pair by Ryan Kettman to steal a 40-38 halftime lead. The Vikings finished the first 20 minutes 6-for-15 from the 3-point arc, while the Cougars were just 2-for-15 in the first half, missing 12 straight to close the half.

The Cougar defense tightened up in the second half, forcing the Vikings to miss 4-of-5 attempts in the final 20 minutes. Additionally, WWU made just 10 of its final 30 shots, while Azusa Pacific went on a 14-for-27 second half clip to take control of the game.

With Boswell and Walker attacking the basket, Azusa Pacific put Western's big men 6-foot-7 Dave Mott and 6-foot-8 Kyle Stonehouse in deep foul trouble and both eventually fouled out.

Azusa Pacific improves to 2-0 on the young season (139-35 since 1993), while Western Washington drops its season opener.