AZUSA, CALIF. -- The season may be young, but the NAIA's No. 6-ranked Azusa Pacific played like a group of seasoned veterans, coasting to an 87-61 win over Dominican College in the opening round of the 13th Annual Cougar Classic Friday night.
he Cougars scored the first 7 points of the game, and then used a 19-2 run to take control with a 35-18 lead with 6:09 remaining in the first half. Senior Kevin Daley, who finished with a team-high 22 points, scored the first 8 of the run, beginning with an alley-oop dunk from junior Isamu Nichols that brought the crowd of 672 to its feet.
"I just tell the guys to throw the ball towards the rim," said Daley. "I will just go get it."
Freshman Jeff Staniland scored the next 6 points in the run and finished with 14 for the game. "It was nice to show everyone that I can play on this level," said Staniland. "I think I proved I can play with these guys, even though I am a freshman."
Dominican's Johnathan Weber scored a game-high 28 points, thanks to an 8-for-13 clip from the 3-point line, but the Cougars shot 56% (18-for-32) from the field in the second half, and 5 Cougars scored in double figures to put the game out of reach.
All 11 Cougars who played scored, including sophomore Gary Dredge, who scored 10 points and had a game-high 7 rebounds. Nichols added 12 points and a team-high 4 assists, while senior Jerome Joseph notched 11 points and 2 steals.
With its fourth straight victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 4-1 on the season and will meet Pomona-Pitzer, a 59-35 winner over Cal State Monterey Bay earlier tonight, in Saturday's championship game at 3:30 p.m. Meanwhile, Dominican falls to 3-5 and plays California Pacific Conference rival Cal State Monterey Bay at 1:30 p.m. Saturday in the consolation game.
Dominican 61
Tyler 1-5 0-0 2, F. Gonzales 3-6 0-1, 6, Strohmeier 4-14 1-2 12,
Weber 10-17 8-13 28, Ronyell 2-5 0-0 4, Salter 0-1 0-0 0,
Heal 2-9 0-0 5, Parker 0-1 0-0 0, DeTuno 0-0 0-0 0, Maley 1-2 0-0 2,
McDavis 1-1 0-0 2, P. Gonzales 0-3 0-0 0
TOTALS 24-64 1-2 61
Turnovers 23 (Jeff, Tyler 5); Rebounds 38 (Maley, Strohmeier 7);
Assists 15 (Jeff 6)
Azusa Pacific 87
Daley 9-15 2-2 22, Raibon 2-4 0-1 4, Dredge 3-5 4-4 10,
Nichols 5-9 2-2 12, Joseph 3-9 2-2 11, Staniland 6-9 0-0 14,
Jacoway 2-6 1-2 5, Healy 1-2 1-2 3, Blake 1-4 0-0 2,
Hermanson 1-3 0-0 2, Tanner 1-2 0-0 2
TOTAL 34-68 12-15 87
Turnovers 13 (Jacoway, Daley 3); Rebounds 39 (Dredge 7);
Assists 19 (Staniland, Nichols, Daley 4)
Score by Halves
Dominican 29 32 -- 61
Azusa Pacific 44 43 -- 87
