LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- Joey Youman's only basket of the night, a tip-in with 1.5 seconds left, lifted Cal State Los Angeles to a 76-75 nonconference victory over Azusa Pacific Wednesday night.
The Cougars appeared to be headed toward a remarkable comeback victory when Jerome Joseph stripped the ball from Ricky Maiden underneath the Golden Eagle basket with 13 seconds left and the Cougars' clinging to a 1-point lead. Joseph was subsequently fouled with 11 seconds left. However, Joseph, who had made 2 free throws a minute earlier to give the Cougars a 1-point cushion, missed both free throws this time. Cal State Los Angeles came down court and launched an errant trey with 5 seconds left that Kevin Daley seeming snagged out of the air. Yet, Daley fumbled the rebound, and Maiden came up with the loose ball only to miss his lay-up off the front rim, setting the stage for Youman's tap-back of the Maiden miss.
The loss snaps Azusa Pacific's 8-game winning streak and gives the Cougars their first setback in a month. Cal State Los Angeles improves to 7-3 and remains a perfect 7-0 at home this season.
Azusa Pacific went ice cold midway through the first half, going 0-for-7 from the floor and committing 8 turnovers all in a 7-minute span. As a result, the Golden Eagles assumed a rather comfortable 25-11 lead. But Azusa Pacific roared back and took a 34-33 lead on an Isamu Nichols' jumper with 1:16 left in the first half. Azusa Pacific eventually settled for a 37-34 halftime deficit. But the momentum was certainly in the Cougars' favor.
Azusa Pacific opened the second half with a 14-2 run to take a 48-39 lead 4 minutes into the second half. Cal State Los Angeles rallied and caught the Cougars at 55-55 on a Quincy Stinson 3-pointer with 11:47 left in the game. From there the 2 teams traded leads 5 more times and neither team enjoyed more than a 4-point lead over the final 10 minutes of the game.
Daley led the Cougars with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Joseph added 20 points. The Cougars committed a season-high 27 turnovers which off-set a fine 26-for-50 shooting from the floor.
Azusa Pacific was force to play without super-sub Jeff Staniland, who sprained his knee in Tuesday's practice and thus had to sit out the game. Additionally, the Cougars had to play the final 8 minutes of the game without point guard Nichols, who left the game with a severely sprained ankle.
