AZUSA, CALIF. -- All-American Kevin Daley had a night to remember, breaking the 6-year old Azusa Pacific record for 3-pointers in a season when he nailed his seventh trey of the game and his 82nd of the season with 3:43 to play. By game's end, Daley posted his fifth 30-point game of the season, guiding the NAIA's No. 9-ranked Cougars to an 86-66 GSAC victory over visiting Cal Baptist.
"I knew the record was close coming into the game," said Daley. "I kept shooting because it felt good and I kept making them, not because I wanted the record."
Daley tallied game-highs of 31 points and 9 rebounds, while fellow seniors Jerome Joseph and Damian Raibon scored 19 and 16 points respectively, accounting for 66 of the Cougars' 86 points on Senior Night in the last regular season game at the Cougardome.
"I expected them to be up for this," said Cougar head coach Bill Odell. "The seniors needed to step up, and I felt that they did a good job of that."
The Cougars shot a blistering 54% (12-for-22) from the 3-point line, led by Daley's 7-for-11 shooting beyond the arc, which tied the Azusa Pacific single-game record for 3-pointers.
"We tried to play hard on Senior Night," said Joseph. "We tried to stay within the flow, and the shots just seemed to be falling for myself and Kevin."
Isamu Nichols capped an 11-2 run that gave the Cougars their largest lead at 60-38 with 11:45 left in the game, but the Lancers responded with a 13-4 run of their own, cutting the lead to 64-51 with 8:39 remaining in the game. The 4 Cougar seniors of Daley, Joseph, Raibon and Owen Healy scored 19 of the Cougars' final 22 points of the game to pull away.
Jeff Jacoway added 10 points off the bench, and Nichols dished out 6 assists.
Azusa Pacific fell behind 4-0 after missing its first 6 shots, but Joseph and Raibon each scored 6 points in a 12-3 run that gave the Cougars a 12-7 lead with 12:05 to play in the first half.
After the Lancers pulled to within a point at 17-16, Daley reeled off 14 points, including 4 3-pointers, during a 21-4 run that gave the Cougars a 38-20 lead with 2:45 remaining in the first half. Daley led Azusa Pacific to a 42-26 halftime lead with 17 points in the opening frame.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 25-4 overall, and 15-2 in GSAC, remaining in a first-place tie with Biola. Cal Baptist falls to 16-15 overall and 7-10 in GSAC play.
