Men's Basketball 3/15/2002 7:00:00 PM Gary Pine

Another Cougar Romp in the NAIAs

KANSAS CITY, MO. – If the NAIA championship were determined by margin of victory, they'd have to give the trophy to Azusa Pacific now. After stamping on a 34-point victory on Spalding University in yesterday's first-round game, the Cougars came right back to plant a 47-point thumping on Auburn-Montgomery today, crushing the Senators, 97-50 in a "Sweet 16" match-up of the 65^th Annual NAIA Men's Basketball Championship Tournament.

With the victory, Azusa Pacific advances to the quarterfinals for the fourth time in the past 5 years where they will meet the Georgetown/Oklahoma City winner on Saturday (March 16) at 6 p.m. (CST).

After surrendering an opening 3-pointer 6 seconds into today's game, Azusa Pacific went to work and fashioned a 34-4 run that for all intents and purposes ended any suspense in the final outcome.

The Cougars clicked on all cylinders, shooting an impressive 57% (35-for-61) from the floor while netting a season-high 16 3-pointers, just 1 shy of the school and NAIA Tournament record. On defense, they held AUM to just 26% (14-for-53) shooting and out-rebounded Auburn, 42-26.

"For the second night in a row, we again played one of our best defensive games of the season," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "We took them out of the things they wanted to do, and to out-rebound that team by 16 is really huge."

While the Cougars' defense frustrated AUM, it was their long-distance shooting that really aggravated the Senators.   Azusa Pacific drained a trio of treys less than 5 minutes into the game and by the 10-minute mark had already knocked down 6. Meanwhile, the AUM offered nothing in return, firing blanks from all spots on the court, going over 10 minutes without a field goal while missing 13 straight shots. And as cold as the Senators were, Azusa Pacific was just as hot at the opposite end, sprinting out to a 34-7 lead. In fact, a pair of Torey Harris made free throws to end the Senator scoring drought, brought a Bronx cheer from the Municipal Auditorium crowd at the 4:44 mark of the first half.

"I thought all along we would be a good shooting team this season," said Odell, "but we just haven't been consistent. How we shot the ball tonight is how we always shoot it in practice. I think playing in our arena at home helps us in terms of depth perception and perhaps gives us an advantage here in Municipal."

Five different Cougars scored in double figures. Senior guard Steve McIlwain led the offensive onslaught with 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting, which included a 6-for-9 clip from beyond the 3-point arc. McIlwain also took advantage of his teammates' hot shooting, recording a career-high 8 assists.

Sophomore forward Brett Michel continued his sizzling shooting, tallying 15 points after banging home 6-of-10 shots, including a trio of 3-pointers. Over the past 7 games, Michel is shooting .488 (20-for-41) from the 3-point arc.

Junior Ladrick Simon registered his second double-double of the season with 13 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while All-American John Bourne added another double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

"With the team we have, we know it's going to be a different person each night who gets us the points," said Bourne. "So we need role players who step up and do the little things like setting screens, boxing out and rebounding. That's what I felt was my job for this game."

Earlier this season, Azusa Pacific beat Auburn-Montgomery, 82-67, in Alabama.

"We knew that when that are they are up, they are way up," said McIlwain, "and when they're down they're way down. So when we got on top early tonight, we felt like we could keep after them and keep the run going."

Interestingly, the Cougars find themselves in a near identical position to where they were a year ago. After beating NAIA power Oklahoma City by a whopping 40 points (94-54) in last year's second round play, the Cougars fell to eventual champion Faulkner, 79-75, in the quarterfinals the following day. In tomorrow's quarterfinals Azusa Pacific could get top-seeded and heavy favorite Georgetown.

"As we learned so well last year, the last game doesn't mean a thing," added McIlwain. "We go into tomorrow's game 0-0. It's a new day and our opponent, whoever it is, knows that as well. Today's big victory won't get us a victory in the next round."

Dating back to last year's win over Oklahoma City, Azusa Pacific's past 3 NAIA Tournament victories are by 40, 34 and 47 points.
Azusa Pacific improves to 27-7 on the season while Auburn-Montgomery finishes its season with a 22-10 mark.

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Players Mentioned

#11 Steve McIlwain: G; 6' 1"; Senior

#15 Ladrick Simon: F; 6' 5"; Junior

#30 John Bourne: F; 6' 4"; Senior

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

Players Mentioned

#11 Steve McIlwain
: 6' 1"; Senior
: G

#15 Ladrick Simon
: 6' 5"; Junior
: F

#30 John Bourne
: 6' 4"; Senior
: F

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