TULSA, OKLA. – A pair of second-half 9-0 runs, one early and one late, lifted second-seeded Azusa Pacific to an 82-70 victory over Edward Waters College (Fla.) in the opening round of the 64^th Annual NAIA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament in Tulsa, Okla.
 
Up by 4 at the half (39-35), the Cougars hit EWC with a 9-0 run to start the second half.  A Caleb Gervin 3-pointer from the top followed by his running jumper in the key spurred the run that gave Azusa Pacific a comfortable 48-35 margin just 2 minutes into the final frame.  Following an Anthony Haggins power lay-up, the Cougars stretched their margin to as much as 16 (57-41) with 14:15 remaining.
 
However, Edward Waters would not fold and whittled its deficit to 3 at 66-63 after the Cougars made just 2 field goals over a stretch of 10 minutes.
 
Azusa Pacific then fashioned its second and game-winning run, going on another 9-0 run, capped by John Bourne's conventional 3-point play that pushed Azusa Pacific's margin to an insurmountable 77-65 lead with 3:25 left in the game.
 
"The first game at a tournament like this is tough to get through," said Cougar coach Bill Odell.  "I felt that when they (Edward Waters) made their run, we showed some poise and hit a couple of big shots.  We had been shooting free throws well, and I knew we needed to continue that tonight."
 
Edward Waters attempted 20 more shots than Azusa Pacific and made 7 more than the Cougars.  However, the Cougars buried 26-of-33 free throw attempts and held a significant advantage over the Tigers' 5-for-13 effort at the line.
 
Bourne paced 6 Cougars in double-figure scoring with a team-high 17 points.  Haggins added 14 points off the bench on 5-for-6 shooting.  Gervin and Jeff Staniland each finished with 11 points.
 
"We really have 7 starters," added Odell, "we obviously have to bring 2 of them off the bench.  And it was Haggins who was big for us tonight."
 
Azusa Pacific, which pushes its school-record winning streak to 20 straight, improves to 34-2 on the season and will meet the Oklahoma City/Xavier winner on Friday (March 16) at 6 p.m. (PST).
 
Edward Waters, which lost to Azusa Pacific in the first round of the 1999 NAIA Tourney, had the Cougars end its season once again, this time with a 21-9 record.