AZUSA, CALIF.– Senior guard Jerome Joseph buried 11-of-15 shots, including 5 from beyond the 3-point arc, to score a career-high 38 points and lead the NAIA's No. 5-ranked Azusa Pacific to an 87-78 GSAC victory over Vanguard University Tuesday night.
Joseph scored 13 of Azusa Pacific's final 20 points of the first half to help weather a Lion run and at the same push the Cougars out to a 10-point halftime cushion at 46-36. His baseline jumper with 3:15 gave Azusa Pacific its biggest lead of the half at 35-22. His putback of an
Owen Healy miss with 16 seconds left assured the Cougars a double-digit halftime margin.
Joseph's onslaught continued into the second half when he scored 9 of the Cougars 14 points during a 3-and-a-half minute stretch that pushed the Cougar lead to a very comfortable 66-47 margin with 13:35 to play.
However, Vanguard's speed and pace of play began to wear on the Cougars, who still had a 15-point lead with just under 10 minutes to play. Yet, a Lion 10-2 run pulled Vanguard to within 7 at 74-67 with 7:38 remaining in the game.
Joseph, though, drained a 27-foot 3-pointer to spur an 8-2 Cougar run that put Azusa Pacific back up by 13 (82-62) and well out of Vanguard's reach.
Senior forward Kevin Daley added 22 points (second time in 10 days that Joseph and Daley combined for 60 points – Daley had 35 and Joseph 25 at Concordia on Jan. 22), including 9 in the first 10 minutes of play when Azusa Pacific jumped out to a 26-14 lead. Junior guard Isamu Nichols was the only other Cougar in double figures, adding 11 points off the bench. However, after making 29 consecutive free throws over the past month, Nichols missed his last free throw of the game to snap his streak. It was first miss since the Azusa Pacific-Vanguard game of Jan. 4 in Azusa.
Senior forward Damian Raibon collected a career-high 14 rebounds, including 12 in the first half.
With the win, the Cougars have now won 8 straight and remain tied for first place in the GSAC with No. 4-ranked Biola, which visits the Cougars on Thursday in Azusa. The Cougars are 19-3 overall, 9-1 in the GSAC.
