AZUSA, CALIF. -- Four days after losing a heartbreaker to NAIA national champion Life University of Marietta, Ga., Azusa Pacific, currently ranked No. 8 in the NAIA, bounced back with an impressive and, at times somewhat sloppy 84-59 victory over Cal State San Bernardino in a nonconference game in Azusa Friday night.

Cougar guard T.J. Walker (Modesto, Calif./Modesto HS) led all players with 16 points, including 12 in the first half, to go along with 5 assists and 4 steals in 28 minutes of play. Redshirt freshman Corey Smith (San Dimas, Calif./San Dimas HS) added 14 points off the bench while sophomore center Bryan Lucas (Manteca, Calif./Manteca HS) chipped in 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting, all in the second half.

"I think we bounced back OK," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "This was more of a case of not looking ahead to next week (GSAC opener). What we needed to do tonight was make the extra pass, and when we did we broke their zone. I didn't think our big guys responded well, but when we broke the zone, then they did.

However, it was hardly the offense that carried the Cougars, but rather a defense the forced a whopping 30 Coyote turnovers which in turn limited CS San Bernardino to just 51 shot attempts. Additionally, the Cougars held CS San Bernardino to just 39% shooting (20-for-51) from the floor. Thus CS San Bernardino scored a season-low 59 points (the Coyotes were without the services of their leading scorer, Leland Mayes -- 18.2 avg. -- who is academically ineligible). Junior Phil Johnson led CSUSB with 15 points.

"We haven't faced a zone this year," said Lucas, "but we're athletic enough that we can adjust. We had the advantage of having big men who could move around a little better than their big guys."

The 2 teams battled through a sloppy first half. CS San Bernardino committed 17 first-half turnovers thus explaining why the Coyotes found themselves down by 12 at the half at 41-29. Meanwhile, the Cougars missed 18 of 31 shots, including 5 lay-ups. Nonetheless, Azusa Pacific did the best job overcoming itself, using a 13-5 run in the later part of the half to push a 24-22 lead into a 10-point cushion at 37-27 with 1:51 to play.

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 15-3 on the season, and is now 77-6 in Azusa since 1992. The Cougars, who are 5-time defending GSAC champion, begin defense of their crown on Tuesday (Jan. 13) at Southern Cal College. Cal State San Bernardino falls to 8-6.