AZUSA, CALIF. – They wanted a test and they got it.
 
Trailing by as many as 10 points in the second half, the NAIA's No. 8-ranked Azusa Pacific rallied to knock off 11th-ranked Lewis-Clark State, 76-68, in the final game ever to be played in the antiquated Cougardome.
 
Sophomore guard Caleb Gervin scorerd 15 of his game-high 24 points in the second half to lead the charge back.  He scored 6 points in the final 3 minutes and none were bigger than the 3 that came off his corner trey with 1:20 to play, giving the Cougars an insurmountable 72-66 lead.
 
Gervin also had 3 steals and 4 assists, including a nifty no-look dish to a wide-open Steve McIlwain under the basket that gave the Cougars a 67-62 cushion with 3:06 remaining.
 
The Cougars tailed by 8 (33-25) at the half and found themselves down 37-27 after back-to-back Phillip Way jumpers less than 90 seconds into the second half.
 
"They took us out of everything we wanted to do in the first half," said Cougar coach Bill Odell, thus explaining Azusa Pacific's paltry 6-for-25 (24%) effort from the floor in the opening half.
 
Playing against a much larger frontline, senior Justin Leslie nonetheless added 19 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.  Leslie spurred the comeback by scoring 6 points of a 10-2 Cougar run that pulled Azusa Pacific to within 2.  A Gervin trey with 13:14 remaining gave Azusa Pacific a 42-41 advantage, its first lead since holding a 15-14 lead in the first half.
 
"We were waiting for them to give us something in the first half instead of taking it to them and making them react to us," said Leslie.  "We changed the tempo on them to make their defense react to our offense."
 
The win is Azusa Pacific's ninth straight but its first by less than 21 points over the past month. 
 
"We need the close games," added Odell.  "They are a very good team, so this is a great win for us to finish it off the way we did."
 
The curtain falls on the Cougardome.  Azusa Pacific christens a new home – the Felix Event Center – on Tuesday in the 13^th Annual Cougar Classic.
 
Over the past 8 seasons, Azusa Pacific has fashioned an amazing 128-10 (.928) record in the Cougardome.
 
"I didn't get very nostalgic," said Odell.  "During the national anthem I looked at the flag and then looked around and saw the chipped paint up there, and I saw the dirt on the walls.  We're finally going to be playing in a class place, and that's what this school needs."
 
The Cougardome opened in 1960 but was probably out-dated by the end of the decade.  It only seated 900 people, but it became a house of horrors for opponents.  Azusa Pacific won over 400 games while the doors were opened in the Cougardome.
 
Azusa Pacific improves to 9-1 on the season, while Lewis-Clark State drops to 7-5 overall.