SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIF. -- Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 25 in the NAIA Preseason poll, captured its second tournament championship of the season and its eighth since 1992 after knocking off tourney host Bethany College, 95-89, to win the Bon Appetit Invitational Saturday in Scotts Valley, Calif.

Azusa Pacific, however, is blowing a sigh of relief after escaping with this win. The Cougars trailed by as much as 12 points in the first half, were down by 8 (57-49) at the half to an undermanned Bethany.

Junior guard T.J. Walker led Cougar charge back with a team-high 20 points, including 13 in the second half and 6 critical counters in the final 7-and-a-half minutes. Senior center Nate Getz and senior guard Andy Newman each added 18 points.

Azusa Pacific, which chased Bethany the first 25 minutes of the game, assumed the lead for good when Getz canned a pair of free throws with 5:13 left to put the Cougars up 83-82. The Cougars made just 3 field goals in the final 7:31 of the game, and Walker accounted for 3, including a lay-up with 1:55 left that gave Azusa Pacific a 91-86 cushion, its largest lead to that point in the game. However, thanks to 12-for-12 shooting at the line down the stretch, Azusa Pacific was able to nail down the victory and avert a major upset.

Led by Sean Harrison, Bethany jumped out to a surprising 34-25 lead midway through the first half. Harrison scored 17 first half points and after canning 5 of his first 6 attempts from the 3-point arc. Additionally, the Bruin defense hounded Azusa Pacific into 18 turnovers, and as a result, Bethany had 15 more shot attempts than Azusa Pacific (42 to 27). The Bruins led 10-2 less than 3 minutes into the game and was up by as much as 12 points a couple of times in the first half, the latest being a 51-39 cushion at 3:51.

Azusa Pacific then went on a 21-8 run that ran through halftime to get back into the game. Getz capped the run with a pair of free throws to give Azusa Pacific its first lead of the game at 60-59 with 15:50 left to play.

After making 8 of its first 12 attempts from the 3-point arc to take control of the game, Bethany finally wore down and made just 2 of its final16 attempts.

Bethany's Robert Foster led all players with 27 points. The Bruins were strangled by foul trouble. Front-line players George Carter and Gerald Ward, who combined for 25 of the Bruins' 57 points in the first half, spent over 10 minutes of the second half on the bench with 4 fouls.

With the win, the Cougars improve to 7-0 on the season, the fifth best start in Azusa Pacific history, while Bethany falls to 4-5.