FRESNO, CALIF. -- A new decade, even a new millennium, has made little difference in the Azusa Pacific-Fresno Pacific series. Tonight was no exception, even though the Sunbirds made it interesting.
The NAIA's No. 10-ranked Azusa Pacific, gunning for its eighth straight GSAC championship, won 19 of 23 games against the Sunbirds in the 90s. Tonight, the Cougars made it 18 straight over the Sunbirds with a narrow 65-63 GSAC win, which is also their ninth straight win in FPU's Special Events Center.
The Cougars opened the game with a 13-2 run, then watched the Sunbirds close the gap and even take a 23-20 lead on Joe Aiello's 3-pointer. The teams settled for a 27-27 tie at the break.
As they did to start the game, the Cougars opened the second half on fire, using a 19-4 run to assume a 48-34 lead. Yet, the Sunbirds whittled the lead down to within 5 at 63-58 when Josh Snow nailed a 3-pointer. Nick French made it 63-60 with a pair of free throws on an intentional foul called on Jeff Staniland. The Sunbirds retained possession of the ball, and Charles Butcher's 3-pointer tied the game at 63-63 with 30 seconds left. The Cougars called time out with 13 seconds to play, then called a second time-out as they almost turned the ball over on a 5-second count. Butcher was called for his fifth foul as Jerome Joseph drove to the basketball. As he did 7 days earlier at Westmont, Joseph sank both free throws with 4 seconds left to clinch the victory. The Sunbirds' court-length pass was deflected as time expired.
"I had missed 3 straight earlier in the game," said Joseph, "but I knew the game was on the line so I put a little more concentration into these 2 free throws."
Joseph and fellow All-American Kevin Daley each scored game-high 20 points to pace the Cougars, who were hampered by 21 turnovers. Daley collected a game-high 8 rebounds, and Joseph added 7. Staniland dropped in 13 points on 5-for-7 shooting.
"Any win this time of the year is a good win," said Cougar coach Bill Odell, "but I'm disappointed with the way we played. During those runs to start both halves we were playing defense the way we want to, denying the ball and being active. Then we just relaxed."
With the win, the Cougars improve to 23-4 overall and 13-2 in the GSAC to remain in a first place tie with No. 6-ranked Biola.
