AZUSA, CALIF.. – Kevin Daley picked up his ninth double-double of the season, and his second against Hope International, leading the NAIA's No. 8-ranked Azusa Pacific to an 80-63 win over the Royals Saturday night.
Owen Healy capped an 8-0 Cougar run with his first career 3-pointer, giving the Cougars their largest lead at 66-42 with 7:52 left in the game.
Daley scored 15 points while bringing down a team-high 12 rebounds, 9 in the first half.
"I just try to go out there and do the same things every game," said Daley, who added game highs of 5 assists and 2 blocks for the Cougars. "It was tough for us to focus tonight, but we played just well enough to get the job done."
Daley provided one of the few exciting plays when he took a Jeff Jacoway lob and threw it home, giving the Cougars 74-51 lead with 3:36 left in the game.
"When you see him going to the rim you just throw it up there," said Jacoway, who returned to action Tuesday night after a 2-month layoff and provided 17 minutes in the Cougar backcourt. "The team stuck with me when I was out, and I just wanted to come back and do whatever I needed to help us win."
Hope International shot a cold 38% from the field for the game, including a frigid 1-for-23 clip from 3-point range.
Jeff Staniland scored a team-high 16 points on 6-for-8 shooting from the field. Jerome Joseph scored in double figures for the 30th consecutive game with 14 points.
"My shot felt good, and my pull-up jumper was falling tonight," said Staniland.
The Cougars used a 12-1 run early in the first half to take a 22-9 lead with 7:53 to play in the half. Joseph scored 4 of his 10 first-half points during the run, and Azusa Pacific took a 35-19 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The only offense that was effective for Hope International was through Axel Margarita who scored a game-high 27 points on 13-for-19 shooting, while pulling down a game-high 13 rebounds.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 12-2 in GSAC play, 22-4 overall while the Royals fall to 1-13 in GSAC play, 9-19 overall.
