Azusa Pacific, led by all-tournament selections Jerome Joseph and all-American point guard T.J. Walker, the Cougars rallied from an 8-point second half deficit to knock off NCAA Div. II power CS Bakersfield 75-68 Tuesday night in Azusa.

With the win, the Cougars improve to 11-2 on the season, and became the first team other than CS Bakersfield to win the State Farm Holiday Classic. It also snapped the Cougars 3-game losing streak to the Roadrunners, and was the first victory by a Cougar team in Bakersfield.

"This is a good win for us," said Cougar head coach Bill Odell, who won his 199th game in Azusa. "To come into their house, with a big crowd, against a great program, is big for our team."

In front of a Roadrunner record 3,695 at the newly built Centennial Garden, the Cougars jumped out to a quick 19-10 lead, thanks to a pair of Walker to Kevin Daley alley-oops and a pair of Jon Dean 3-pointers. However, the Cougars lead was short lived, as the Runners went on a 20-6 run to take a 30-25 lead.

CS Bakersfield took a 36-33 lead in to the intermission, thanks in part to a 61.5 shooting clip (16-for-26), while holding the Cougars to 12-of-25 (34.3%) shooting.

In the second half, the Runners pushed their lead to 51-43, but the Cougars went on an 11-2 run to take a 54-53 lead.

Trailing 63-62, the Cougars had a chance to take the lead, but Daley had a pass slip through his hands. However, on the ensuing inbounds, Matt Reed stole the pass, kicked it to Joseph, who was fouled. Joseph nailed both free throws for a 64-63 Cougar lead.

After the Runners hit the second of 2 free throws to knot it at 64, it became Walker time. Walker took the ball coast to coast and layed it in to give the Cougars a 66-64 lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

"I'm a senior and a leader, and I need to make the plays," said Walker. "Coach (Odell) gave me the green light, so I took it."

Then, after a defensive stop, senior guard Jason Boswell, who hit just 1 of his first 7 3-point attempts, hit probably the biggest shot of the night, a trey that gave the Cougars a 69-64 lead with just over a minute left.

"I think the Lord had a plan for me to take that shot," said Boswell. "I just thank Him for giving me the opportunity to take that shot."

The Runners hit 1 of 2 free throws to cut the lead to 69-65, but Walker hit both free throws for a 71-65 lead. The Runners followed with a 3-pointer to make it 71-68, but Walker again nailed 2 clutch free throws to push the lead to 73-68.

After 4 missed 3-point attempts by the Runners, Joseph grabbed the last rebound, was fouled and sunk both his shots, for the final 75-68 score.

"We played with poise in the second half, and made the plays when we needed to," said Joseph. "We did all the things that got us here."

While the Cougars were overmatched by the mammoth Runner frontcourt, getting out-rebounded 38-30, they were outshot by a bigger margin. The Runners shot 51% to the Cougars 38%, but the Cougars still took the game.

"We had a lot of good looks, but the shots weren't falling," said Odell. "I told them at the half to be patient and we would start making our shots." Walker led the Cougars with 18 points, 6 assists and 5 rebounds followed by 17 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists from Joseph and 17 points from Daley.