"This wasn't a basketball game, this was a competition," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "The last time we played them, we got behind real bad, but tonight we competed hard and that is why I am proud of them."

The Eagles held a 56-47 lead following a Marcus White field goal with 9:02 left in the game. But the Cougars closed the game with a 22-5 run to win their fifth straight over Biola. It was Azusa Pacific's 13th of the past 14 over the Eagles. The Cougar defense stifled the Eagles, forcing Biola into 2-for-10 shooting over the final 9 minutes and 0-for-3 at the line.

Junior center Justin Leslie scored 13 of his game-high 23 points in the second half, including 6 in the final 2:54. The Cougars and Eagles were deadlocked at 61 when Leslie took the game over, thanks in part to 4 fouls on Biola's All-American center Jack Hartman.

"I had all the confidence in the world tonight," said Leslie, who was 9-of-10 from the field. "Some guys didn't play well, but that's the beauty of this team. I had the chance to step up and have the best game of my career."

The Cougars were poor in the first half, shooting 37 percent (11-for-30) from the field and only 6-for-15 from the line. Still, Azusa Pacific trailed only 32-29 at the break.

Biola took a 38-32 lead to start the second half and later went on an 18-9 run for a 56-47 lead.

But then the Cougars turned it on, scoring 14 straight points, thanks to a pair of Leslie jumpers and 2 Jerome Joseph 3-pointers.

"I struggled at the free throw line, but I kept my confidence," said Joseph. "I was running the floor, and T.J. kept kicking it to me and I hit those shots."

The Eagles missed 4 3-pointers and turned it over 3 times in the final 2:23. With the score 68-61, Leslie fittingly grabbed the rebound to ice the game.

Despite a horrific 19-for-36 free throw effort, the Cougars were able to overcome it and hold on for the win that gives them a 1-game lead in the GSAC with 2 to play. And an overflow and raucous Cougardome, a capacity crowd of 1,200 witnessed the contest, helped pull the Cougars ahead.

"I have played in hundreds of gyms and arena's, but I have never experienced anything like this before," said senior All-American T.J. Walker who had 8 rebounds and 7 assists.

"In 8 years, that is the loudest I have ever heard that crowd," said Odell.

Joseph finished with 19 points. Daley had the worst game of his Cougar career (4-for-18) and finished with only 9 points but had 9 rebounds.

The Cougars improved to 24-4, 10-2 in the GSAC while the Eagles drop to 24-5, 9-3 in the conference.