AZUSA, CALIF. – As he has done twice in the previous 4 games, so he did again tonight.  Junior guard Steve McIlwain came off  the bench to ignite a stagnant Cougar offense and guided the NAIA's No. 5-ranked Azusa Pacific to an 80-73 GSAC victory over Westmont.
 
The victory keeps Azusa Pacific a game-ahead of Christian Heritage in the GSAC standing.  The Hawks, who are ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, pulled off an impressive 81-75 victory at No. 24-ranked Cal Baptist.
 
In the Cougars fifth win in the past 6 meetings with arch-rival Westmont, McIlwain scored 10 second-half points, including 7straight in a 3-minute span to move the Cougars from a 59-55 lead to a much more comfortable 66-55 cushion with 7:33 left in the game.  McIwain's third trey of the game, a shot from right side with 8:13 remaining, seemingly broke the back of a pesky set of Warriors, who had controlled much of the game to that point.
 
"We always have that kind of run early in the second half," said McIlwain. "It felt good.  We started working the offense and making the extra pass and it worked for us."
 
Westmont momentarily got the lead back to single digits on a pair of Chris Clark free throws but the Cougars responded with a 6-2 run and kept the lead in double digits until the final 40 seconds of the game.
 
McIwain finished with 14 points.  Senior Justin Leslie led the Cougars with 20 points, but he missed 4 of 7 free throws in the final 3-and-a-half minutes.  He tallied a team-best 9 rebounds.
 
Westmont was paced by Mitch Pierce with his game-highs of 26 points and 17 rebounds.  Sharp-shooter Cory Blick finished with 13 points, but was held to 5-for-13 shooting, including a 1-for-7 clip from the 3-point arc.
 
"We had match-up problems with their quickness," said Cougar coach Bill Odell.  "Pierce had a career game on us and they did a good job.  We just weren't ready to defend them, but we did a better job in the second half."
 
The 2 teams struggled to find an offensive flow at start the game, but by the 10-minute mark the Cougars had fashioned a 13-6 lead.  At that point, Westmont found success with its spread offense, using back-door cuts to frustrate the Cougars.  The Warriors put together a 13-2 run to take a 21-17 lead, which they maintained the rest of the half, heading into the locker room with a 33-30 margin.
 
Caleb Gervin's 3-pointer less than 4 minutes into the second half a 39-37 lead.   The Cougars kept the margin at 2 until McIlwain buried the first of 2 second-half treys to spur an 8-0 Cougars run that put Azusa Pacific up 55-45.  The Warriors pulled back to within 5 on a Ryan Monroe 3-pointer and a pair of Blick free throws.  That's when McIlwain ignited the Cougars again.
 
Azusa Pacific had another balanced attack tonight with 5 players scoring in double figures.  Along with Leslie and McIlwain, John Bourne finished with 15 points, including 9 in the first half, while Caleb Gervin tossed in 14 and Anthony Haggins chipped in 13.
 
Azusa Pacific has now won 11 straight and improves to 25-2 overall, 12-1 in the GSAC.
 
Westmont falls 15-7 overall, 8-5 in the GSAC.