AZUSA, CALIF. -- Azusa Pacific breezed into Friday's semi-finals of the Southern California Shoot-Out with a 102-61 victory over Bellevue University of Nebraska in Thursday's opening round play in Azusa.

All 12 Cougars scored, including five who scored in double figures. Senior center Nate Getz's tallied a game-high 18 points. Sophomore center Bryan Lucas added a season-high 13 off the bench. Andy Newman and Corey Smith each added 10 points off the bench as well.

"We go from Goliath to the smurfs up front," said Getz, referring to Azusa Pacific's last game against Utah. "I felt muscular up front. We moved the ball better tonight and got good spots for our shots.

Azusa Pacific scored the game's first 10 points and held Bellevue scoreless for over 4 minutes. Then keyed by Lucas' 7 points, the Cougars used a 17-0 run to assume a commanding 40-15 lead. Azusa Pacific was still up by 28 points, 53-25, at the half.

"I had a good week in practice, and I think the coaches are getting more confidence in me," said Lucas. "We killed them on the boards (50-29), and its refreshing to have the size advantage on our side this time."

The Cougars forced a hefty 32 turnovers and held Bellevue to just 36% (21-for-58) shooting from the floor.

"We talk about executing and doing our best so that we don't take our opponent lightly," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "We are so balanced that we had the opportunity tonight for some players to show me that they want to play."

Azusa Pacific, which is averaging over 90 points a game, led wire-to-wire and was up by as much as 44 points (92-48) late in the game.

With the win, Azusa Pacific snaps a 2-game losing streak (the Cougars haven't lost 3 straight since 1991) and improves to 8-2 on the season. The Cougars will play Christian Heritage, a 97-94 overtime winner over Albertson earlier in the evening, at 8:15 p.m. in Friday's semi-final action. Bellevue meets Albertson at 1 p.m. on Friday.