EL CAJON, CALIF. – In a battle of a pair of NAIA Top 10-ranked teams, No. 8-ranked Azusa Pacific used a pair of treys to put together an 9-0 run in the second half to overcome No. 4-ranked Christian Heritage, 89-77.
 
The victory gives Azusa Pacific sole possession of first place in the GSAC at the halfway point of the conference slate, while Christian Heritage falls into a second-place tie with Biola, 1 game behind the Cougars.
 
Azusa Pacific led 39-33 at the half but behind the shooting of Brad Nicholson, the Hawks opened the second frame on fire and quickly took a 41-39 lead.  CHC built the cushion to as much as 5 and was still up 52-47 when the Cougar offense was ignited.
 
Junior guard Steve McIlwain's long three with 10:06 left in the game gave Azusa Pacific a 54-52 lead that it would not relinquish. The Cougars found themselves in the midst of a 20-5 run in which Justin Leslie nailed a pair of treys from the top of the key to go along with a John Bourne bomb.  Before the Hawks could answer, Azusa Pacific held a 67-57 cushion with 6:44 remaining. Leslie then canned another set of back-to-back treys to push the Cougar lead 79-64 with 4:19 left.  When the run was over, Azusa Pacific had made 10-of-15 shots, 5 of which were beyond the 3-point arc.
 
Though CHC pulled to within 9 at 79-70 with 2:32 to go, Azusa Pacific's effort at the charity stripe assured the win, with the Cougars making of 8-of-10 free throws in the final 2 minutes.
 
With the win Azusa Pacific improves to 21-2 overall, 8-1 in the GSAC.  CHC falls to 17-3 overall, 7-2 in the GSAC.
 
Leslie finished with a season-high 23 points to go along with a game-high 10 rebounds.  Bourne added 16 points while Jeff Staniland tossed in 14 points.  Freshman Brett Michel had 11 points, 9 of which came in the first half on a trio of 3-pointers. Azusa Pacific finished the game 8-for-15 at the 3-point stripe.