AZUSA, CALIF. -- The NAIA's No. 6-ranked Azusa Pacific retained its share of first place in the GSAC with an 86-67 conference victory over Point Loma Nazarene Tuesday night in San Diego. With Biola's 89-72 win over Concordia, the Cougars remain tied for first in the GSAC with Biola while Westmont falls a half game behind after its game with Southern Cal College was postponed tonight (it will be played Wednesday, Feb. 4).

Junior guard T.J. Walker (Modesto, Calif./Modesto HS) paced the Cougars with 19 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocked shots. His backcourt mate, junior Jason Boswell (Turlock, Calif./Turlock HS), added 16 points on the strength of a game-high 4 3-pointers. Senior Micah Sullivan (Ellensburg, Wash./Ellensburg HS), mired in a slump of late, showed signs of life with 8 points (all in the second half) to go along with 9 rebounds.

The Cougars led by 12 (45-33) at the half and were up by as many as 23 late in the game before settling in on the 19-point win, their 11th win this year by 15 or more points.

Despite the relatively large margin of victory, Azusa Pacific was far from sharp in this game, missing numerous lay-ups while giving a lethargic effort.

"We played to the level of our competition tonight," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "We didn't get better as a team tonight, and that was our goal coming into the game. We missed a lot of shots and didn't play good defense. And the thing about Point Loma is that they shoot well. They can beat some people."

The Cougars committed just 11 turnovers (they averaging just 12.8 miscues the past 5 games) and out-rebounded Point Loma, 42-41 (the fourth straight game they've out-rebounded the foe after getting smashed 43-26 on the glass in a loss to Westmont). However, Azusa Pacific shot just 33% (16-for-48) in the second half and only 41% (32-for-79) for the game. The usually reliable Cougar bench was a combined 10-for-29 from the floor, and it was only that good because of sophomore Justin Leslie's (Nuevo, Calif./Perris HS) 4-for-4 performance.

The win is Azusa Pacific's fourth straight and improves the Cougars' record to 21-4 overall, 6-1 in the GSAC. Point Loma falls for the 23rd consecutive time and sees its record dip to 1-24 overall, 0-7 in the GSAC.