UCLA transfer Kevin Daley hit the front end of a one-and-one with 9 seconds left to give the Cougars a 3-pt cushion, and Chad Bickley's 3-point attempt at the buzzer missed.

"We were their Utah, their big game," said Azusa Pacific head coach Bill Odell, who won his seventh consecutive season opener. "They were a good team and this was a very good first game for us."

For most of the first half and much of the second half, the Cougars trailed. However, by riding the coattails of senior All-American guard T.J. Walker and senior guard Jason Boswell, the Cougars were able to squeeze out a victory.

"We showed a lot of heart tonight," said Boswell, who finished with a team high 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field (5-of-6 behind the arc). "We could have easily rolled over and died, but we never gave up. I knew this would be a tough opener because it was down here against a good team."

With the score knotted at 80 with 5 minutes left, Christian Heritage turned the ball over which Corey Smith turned into his fourth 3-pointer of the game to give the Cougars an 83-80 lead. After a defensive stop, Boswell scored to make it 85-80. Christian Heritage cut it to 85-82, but Boswell again clutched up, hitting a 3-pointer for an 88-82 Azusa Pacific lead.

The Hawks cut their deficit to 90-89, but Walker hit the back end of a pair of free throws for a 91-89 lead. With a chance to tie, Hawks guard B.J. Casteel let a ball slip through his hands on the way to the basket. Daley was fouled and made the first of his free throw attempts for the 92-89 score.

"It feels good to get our first win of the year," said Walker. "We were rusty for most of the game. We got tired of playing against each other. We are going to get better because we have too many good players not to."

Walker finished a rebound shy of his first career triple-double, ending with 16 points, a career-high 14 assists and 9 rebounds. Daley tossed in 16 points in his Cougar debut, including a highlight reel one-handed alley oop dunk from Boswell. Smith added 15 off the bench. The Cougars finished 12-for-24 from the 3-point line.

"Last year I played at the end of my last game (a UCLA loss to eventual national champion Kentucky in the Sweet 16) but it didn't matter then," said Daley. "Tonight's game mattered and I am just happy to be able to play ball again. It doesn't matter who I play, whether it is Duke, Kentucky or Christian Heritage, I just want to play."

The Cougars (1-0) return to action Saturday night when they travel to the No. 10 ranked team in the NCAA and 1998 NCAA Finalist, University of Utah, for a 7:30 p.m. (MST) game.