SAN DIEGO, CALIF. –
Caleb Gervin's steal of an inbounds pass and subsequent half-court sprint for a lay-up with 8 second left sealed Azusa Pacific's dramatic comeback of a73-68 GSAC victory over Point Loma Nazarene.
The NAIA's No. 7-ranked Cougars trailed Point Loma by 10 points at the half at 35-25 (their largest halftime deficit this year) but out-scored the Crusaders by 15 in the second half, shooting 67% (16-for-24) on foreign territory.
Steve McIlwain's back-to-back 3 pointers completed Azusa Pacific's comeback, giving the Cougars a 49-44 with 10:57 remaining. Ironically, it was McIlwain who hit a 3-pointer last Saturday night across town at Christian Heritage to give Azusa Pacific a lead it would never relinquish as well. McIlwain's second trey tonight capped 12-0 Cougar run.
Super sub
Anthony Haggins then took over for the Cougars, scoring 8 straight points to single-handedly keep Point Loma at bay while pushing the Azusa Pacific lead to 57-52 with 7:39 to play. With 2 minutes left, Haggins drove baseline for an open lay-up to keep the Cougars up by 5 at 67-62.
The Crusaders were still within 3 at 69-66 after Willie Briscoe tipped in a B.J. Foster miss with 1:10 remaining. Josh Williams then stripped Cougar guard
Jeff Staniland in the key, setting up one last chance for Point Loma to send the game into OT. The Crusaders took 2 cracks at it, including a long 3-point attempt from sharp-shooter B.J. Foster. Azusa Pacific was unable to come up with either rebound, and Point Loma found itself with an inbounds play underneath its own bucket with 13 seconds remaining. However, after a PLNU timeout, Brian Frey's long inbounds pass to half court was batted up by Gervin, who nabbed the loose ball out of the air and sprinted in for a the game clinching lay-up.
Haggins led a balanced Cougar attack, finishing with a career-high 18 points, including 16 in the second half. Gervin had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists. John Bourne checked in with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Azusa Pacific pushes its win streak to 10 straight and improves to 24-2 overall, 11-1 in the GSAC. The Cougars are also 8-0 this season on enemy ground.
Point Loma falls to 15-9 overall, 6-6 in the GSAC.
