AZUSA, CALIF. -- The goggles are here to stay. Senior All-American T.J. Walker, who was knocked out of Tuesday night's 73-68 win over Biola with severe tissue damage in his left eye, sported a pair of eyeglasses and promptly went out and had the best game of his career, scoring a career-high 38 points in the Cougars 113-87 rout of Concordia Friday night in Azusa.
"It took me a little while to get used to wearing them (the goggles), but in the first few minutes, I got loose and comfortable," said Walker. "I hadn't been on the court in 2 days. I was anxious to play, the anxiety got to me and I was just scoring."
After junior forward Kevin Daley was ejected 4 minutes into the game for a flagrant foul, Walker picked up the scoring slack, putting in 27 points in the first half alone. Though he cooled off a bit in the second half, Walker still put in 11 more points and helped the Cougars run away with the game.
Concordia took advantage of the Daley loss, jumping out to a 26-22 lead, but that is when Walker and sophomore guard Corey Smith got hot. In a 1 minute and 33 second span, Smith scored 10 points.
"I was just open and I got chances to score," said Smith. "The past couple of games I didn't get many shots and I couldn't get into a groove, but tonight I got a chance and I got into the groove."
But Walker was even hotter, scoring 16 points in the run. In the final 9:37, the Cougars outscored Concordia 41-22.
The Cougars shot a "cool" 54% in the second half, going 18-for-33. Though the Eagles cut it to as close as 16, the Cougars continued to pull away with the win.
"A good team can't let down, because every team in the conference is good," said Azusa Pacific coach Bill Odell. "We have had guys step up and play each game and tonight it was T.J."
Glendora product Josh Giles led the Eagles with 30 points, but the night clearly belonged to Walker. Along with his 38 points, he also had game-highs of 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 5 steals.
"Being at home helps us," said Walker. "Coach told us this isn't a one-man team so we all had to step up."
Three other Cougars finished in double figures, with junior guard Jerome Joseph scoring 21, Smith scoring 18 and senior guard Jason Boswell scored 12 points and had 7 assists.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 18-3 and 5-1 in the GSAC, one half game ahead of Biola, Westmont and Fresno Pacific. The Eagles drop to 2-4 and 13-11 overall. The Cougars return to action on Tuesday when they host Fresno Pacific at 7:30 p.m.
