Great Second Half Shoots Down the Stars

KANSAS CITY, MO. – Last year, it was a 40-point shellacking. This year, it was anything but.

Azusa Pacific shrugged off a cold first half and lit the nets on fire in the second 20 minutes to survive and get past a physical Oklahoma City, 80-72, in the quarterfinals of the 2002 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament.

With the win, the ninth-seeded Cougars advance to the semifinals for the third time in the past 5 years and will meet No. 5-seed Oklahoma Baptist Monday night at 8 p.m. (CST). It is also the second straight season that the Cougars have ended OCU's season in the national tournament, including last year's 94-54 win in the second round.

"This feels great to beat a quality team and be back in the Final Four," said Azusa Pacific head coach Bill Odell, "but the Final four is not our goal. We want to keep playing."

Indeed the Cougars will keep playing at least for another night. However, after a first half where they shot just 37% from the field, missing all 4 three-point attempts, it appeared as though that might not happen.

"In the first half we weren't making the extra pass," said Odell. "We were doing too many things on our own. We know we can shoot the ball. We just needed to get open. What can't get lost in all this is the play of Brett (Michel). He held (Cedrich) Parker to just 5 points in 25 minutes, and he happened to score 14 points, too."

And open they got in the second half as the Cougars sizzled to the tune of 60% from the floor and a remarkable 67% from the 3-point line, hitting 8-of-12 shots from downtown.

Michel hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the corner to cap an 11-2 run as the Cougars opened up a 12-point (59-47) lead with 9:45 remaining, nearly burning out all momentum from the Stars.

However, the Stars responded with a flurry of their own, outscoring the Cougars, 17-5, over the next 5 minutes to tie the game 64-64. Yet the Cougars survived hitting clutch shot after clutch shot to put the game away. Junior All-GSAC Caleb Gervin hit a pair of free throws to give the Cougars lead for good 66-64 with 4:13 to play. The Cougars clung to a 69-67 lead with 1:33 left when they forced an OCU turnover, and All-GSAC John Bourne buried his third 3-point bomb of the game with 1:13 remaining to ice the game.

"I knew we had the talent to get here," said Gervin. "It was just a matter of taking the unity that we have off the court and putting it on the court. We have a great cast and they all stepped up tonight."

Oklahoma City opened the game with a 17-6 run, and appeared to be headed towards the revenge it had hoped for. However, the Cougars slowly chipped away over the final 11 minutes of the first half and actually carried a 1-point (31-30) lead into the locker room.

Four Cougars hit double figures, led by Bourne's 20 points. He hit all 3 of his trey attempts in the second half and matched Gary Dredge's team-high 6 rebounds. Gervin added 17 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. Michel finished with 14, and Ladrick Simon chipped in with 10 points off the bench.

With the win, the Cougars push their win streak to 5 straight and improve to 28-7 on the season. No. 16-seed Oklahoma City has its season end at 26-6.

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Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

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

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

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

Players Mentioned

#4 Caleb Gervin

#15 Ladrick Simon

#30 John Bourne

Players Mentioned

#4 Caleb Gervin

#15 Ladrick Simon

#30 John Bourne