"I was pleased with our effort for the majority of the game," said Cougar head coach Bill Odell. "However we have to be able to finish teams off, execute and be fundamentally solid."

After the Crusaders hit a pair of 3-pointers and jumped out to a 10-4 lead, the Cougars responded with a 12-0 run, giving them a 16-10 lead, one they would not relinquish. The Cougars held a 30-24 lead midway through the first half, and used a 13-2 run to push their cushion to 43-26. Paced by sophomore guard Corey Smith's 14 first-half points, the Cougars held a 51-31 lead at the break.

"I was frustrated with Westmont (0 points against the Warriors) so I wanted to dominate and contribute and do whatever I could to help the team," said Smith.

Azusa Pacific began the second half with a 17-9 run to give them a 68-40 lead, and jumped out to their biggest lead of the night, 75-46, when Smith hit his third trey.

Junior forward Damian Raibon chipped in 8 of his season high 10 points in the second half, and showing that he is fully recovered from a stomach ailment that sidelined him earlier this month, pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.

"I always think I can contribute but now I am starting to feel like my normal self," said Raibon.

The Crusaders closed the game with a 26-13 run to make the score closer than it really was, but giving the Cougars reason to believe they need to play a full 40 minutes.

"It's good to be back on the court," said senior all-American guard T.J. Walker, who scored 16 points and added 7 rebounds. "But we have not played a good 40 minutes for awhile, and we need to."

Senior guard Jason Boswell added 11 points for the Cougars and junior forward Kevin Daley tossed in 14 points.

The Cougars improve to 15-3 and 2-1 in the GSAC while the Crusaders drop to 9-9, 0-3 in the conference.