WHITTIER, CALIF. -- Freshman center Bryan Lucas, who over the past 2 weeks has been playing the best basketball of his young career, buried 2 free throws with 3.3 seconds left to lift top-seeded Azusa Pacific to a 73-71 victory over upstart Concordia in the final of the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Postseason Tournament championship game in Whittier, Tuesday night.  As a result, the NAIA's No. 15-ranked Cougars earn the conference's automatic bid into the 32-team NAIA National Championship Tournament to be staged in Tulsa, Okla., March 18-24.

Lucas, who was barely averaging 6 points on the season, has been averaging 15 points over the past 4 games, and against Concordia he dropped in a career-high 19, including 15 in the second-half, and the Cougars' final 6 of the game.

In a game that featured 19 lead changes, including 17 in the second half, Concordia tied the game at 71 when Greg O'Hagan made a running lay-up with 57 seconds left to play.  On the Cougars' ensuring possession, Trent Jackson missed back-to-back 3-point attempts, but the Cougars got the offensive rebound both times with Lucas securing the second one on which he was fouled by Concordia's Kalim Scott to set up the game's winning free throws.

Ironically, Lucas entered the game as just a 63-percent free throw shooter and had missed 7 of his past 12 free throws prior to the Concordia game.  But on this night he canned 9 of his 10 attempts, including the final 2 to give the Cougars the victory.

"Yes, this was my best game," said Lucas.  "Actually, I've played the best I can play over the past 4 games.  They have more confidence in  me now.  They kept giving me the ball, and I've finally showed I can score."

Concordia had one last shot to tie or win the game, but Rick Haywood's running lay-up caromed off the side of the rim, and the Cougars had their first automatic berth into the NAIA since 1993 (they earned at-large bids in 1994 and 1996).

Dameon Page added 13 points for the Cougars, all in the first half.  Jackson finished with 11, including 6 consecutive points that gave Azusa Pacific a 58-53 lead with 8:11 left in the game.

Concordia was paced by O'Hagan's 20 points.  Scott chipped in with 18.

Concordia jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first 7 minutes of the game after draining 8 of its first 9 shots.  However, the Cougars answered with a 10-0 run over the next 3 minutes to knot the score at 16.  After Concordia responded to take a 21-16 lead, the Cougars came back with a 7-0 run and took their first lead when Jason Boswell buried a trey to put Azusa Pacific up 23-21 with 6:38 left in the first half.  Again Concordia responded to assume a 32-28 lead before the Cougars closed the half with the final 3 points to allow the Eagles to have a 1-point cushion at the half.

From that point forward the 2 teams traded 1-point leads through the second half.  Azusa Pacific did take a 65-58 lead when Page hit a 3-pointer with 5:34 left in teh game.  Concordia never folded, and though the Eagles would never lead again, they did tie the score at 65, 67, 69 and 71.

"It's nice not to lose after winning the conference regular season title," said Cougar Head Coach Bill Odell.  "We didn't play as well as we might have, but we scrapped all the way, and Lucas really stepped up."

With the win, the Cougars push their winning streak to 7 straight and improve their record to 28-7.  Concordia concludes its campaign at 15-17.  Azusa Pacific will receive word of its seed an dbracketing when the NAIA releases pairings of if its 32-team tournament at 3:30 p.m. (PST) on Thursday (March 13).