Cougars Run GSAC String to 17

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – All-American guard Caleb Gervin scored a team-high 15 points, including 3 on his only trey of the game late in the contest, to propel the NAIA's No. 2-ranked Azusa Pacific to a GSAC-opening 79-68 victory over Point Loma Nazarene.

The win, which is Azusa Pacific's 13^th straight conference-opening victory, is also the Cougars' 17^th consecutive GSAC win, 1 shy of the conference record set by Azusa Pacific from 1992-94. Yet, this was anything but a pretty win.

"It's a good start," Cougar coach Bill Odell said. "Anytime you win in this conference on the road you have to be pleased. But we couldn't come up with stops tonight, and they shot the ball really well. We just kind of hung on to win the game."

Azusa Pacific, which took the lead early and led by 8 at the half, nonetheless struggled to put the Crusaders away, allowing a number of easy baskets in paint that kept PLNU within striking distance throughout the second half. Only after Gervin nailed a 3-pointer with just over 3 minutes to play did the Cougars find themselves with a somewhat comfortable and insurmountable 9-point cushion.

"I thought a couple of guys picked up their game tonight," added Odell. "Caleb snapped out of the funk he has been in, and we executed much better in the half court than we have previously."

As has been the case through much of the early going of the season, it was a balanced effort that paced the Cougar offense. Anthony Haggins added 12 points in 21 minutes of play off the bench. Sophomore forward Brett Michel registered his best game of the young season, tallying 13 points, including 9 off of a trio of treys, to go along with 4 steals and 3 assists.

While the Cougars shot a respectable 50% (28-for-56) from the field, the Crusaders where sizzling, nailing 55% (28-for-51) of their shots, including a 23-for-35 clip inside the 3-point line.

"Point Loma did not play poorly," added Odell. "If they play the rest of the season as well as they did tonight, they're not going to be a pushover for anyone."

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 6-1 overall, 1-0 in the GSAC, while Point Loma Nazarene falls to 1-7 overall, 0-2 in the GSAC.

Combined with the Cougar women's 87-79 overtime victory over Point Loma, the Azusa Pacific men's and women's teams produced their first GSAC sweep at Point Loma since 1995.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Caleb Gervin: G; 6' 1"; Junior

#24 Anthony Haggins: F-G; 6' 4"; Senior

#32 Brett Michel: F; 6' 7"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#4 Caleb Gervin
: 6' 1"; Junior
: G

#24 Anthony Haggins
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F-G

#32 Brett Michel
: 6' 7"; Sophomore
: F

Players Mentioned

#4 Caleb Gervin

#24 Anthony Haggins

#32 Brett Michel

Players Mentioned

#4 Caleb Gervin

#24 Anthony Haggins

#32 Brett Michel