The Warriors, who came in with a disappointing 1-4 record, stunned the Cougars with a tournament-record 17 3-pointers (the previous record was 16 by Western State in 1997), and jumped out to a 13-point second half before holding off a Cougar rally to escape with the win.

Warrior guard Geoff Smith scored a tournament record-tying 43 points, thanks to a tournament record 12 3-pointers to lead the Western Baptist charge. His eighth 3-pointer of the game gave the Warriors a seemingly comfortable 44-31 lead with 18:31 left in the game, but the Cougars fought back. Junior guard Jerome Joseph scored 10 points in a Cougar run that trimmed the Western Baptist lead to 62-61 with 7:57 to play. But Smith answered with back-to-back 3-pointers to up the Warriors cushion to 68-61.

Azusa Pacific again got within a point (77-76) with 55 seconds left, but again Smith killed the rally, nailing a pair of free throws.

The Cougars couldn't overcome Western Baptist's 58% (29-for-50) field goal shooting, nor its own 50% (19-for-38) free throw shooting, enabling the Warriors to pull off the upset.

Joseph scored a season-high 28 points and senior all-American guard T.J. Walker scored 18 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.

Three other Warriors scored in double figures; D.J.Vick with 13, Kyle Valentine with 11 and Andy Carmichael with 10.

Azusa Pacific, which suffered its first loss to a team with a losing record since Feb. 25, 1995, never led in this game.

The Cougars, 4-2, return to action on Saturday, when they host Christian Heritage at 1 p.m. in the Cougardome in game 3 of the Cougar Classic. Western Baptist will face Biola in the championship game tomorrow night at 7 p.m.