IRVINE, CALIF. -- The heart of a champion shows when the game is on the line. Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 6 in the NAIA, rallied from an 11-point deficit in the second half to beat Concordia, 82-78, Tuesday night in Irvine. The win clinched at least a tie for Azusa Pacific's seventh straight Golden State Athletic Conference championship.
"I have a hard time enjoying this because we didn't really play well tonight, and it really hasn't sunk in," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "I don't feel we have played well since the last Fresno Pacific game (three weeks ago)."
Trailing 65-59 with 6:42 left to play, Cougar guard Jerome Joseph forced a 5-second call on Eagle Joel Burgess. That ignited a 13-3 Cougar run, keyed by Joseph's 5 points and 4 more from Kevin Daley that eventually gave the Cougars a 72-68 lead.
Concordia's Joel Burgess nailed a 3-pointer to cut it to 72-71, then Joseph and Daley each converted 2 free throws to stretch the lead to 76-71. Glendora product Josh Giles scored 5 straight points for the Eagles to tie the game at 76-76 with 2:10 left to play.
Justin Leslie scored on a pass from T.J. Walker to make it 80-78 with 1:07 left in the game, then made the play of the game when he blocked Burgess with 35 seconds left and Walker grabbed the board.
"I saw Burgess curl around and he put it on the platter for me," said Leslie, who had 4 blocked shots. "The big thing is that we got the ball back."
Joseph was fouled and made the first of two, but Leslie grabbed the second shot and kicked out to Walker. Concordia had a chance to tie, but Harold Hofmann was stripped by Joseph, who made the second of two free throws and the Cougars held on for the 82-78 win.
"The first half was probably the worst half of basketball we have played all year," said Joseph, the GSAC Player of the Week. "We wanted to take it one possession at a time and make the second half completely different."
Walker, who was questionable because of a sprained ankle, scored 23 points, blocked acareer-high 3 shots and had 8 assists. In two games against Concordia this season, Walker has scored 61 points.
"My ankle is sore, but Craig (Faeth, the Cougar trainer) is taking care of it. "I don't want to be on the team that ends the streak (of GSAC titles) so to win it is good."
Daley and Joseph each had 17 points while Leslie scored 9 points and had 9 rebounds. The Cougars shot 62% (16-for-26) in the second half while holding the Eagles to 37% (12-for-32). Both teams had 34 rebounds.
After an emotional 69-61 win over then No. 10-ranked Biola on Saturday, the Cougars were ripe for a letdown.
"The emotion and physicalness of Saturday's game affected us, especially when Concordia began to get physical," said Odell. "But at least we competed."
The Cougars, 25-4 and 11-2 in the GSAC, play their regular season finale on Saturday at Fresno Pacific at 7:30 p.m. The Cougars are assured of the top seed in the GSAC tournament and will try to wrap up the conference crown outright against the Sunbirds.
