SALT LAKE CITY, Utah -- Senior Brett Michel recorded his first-ever double-double, and Azusa Pacific buried a school-record 19 3-pointers to lead the NAIA's No. 4-ranked Cougars to a 112-71 victory over Montana-Western in the opening round of the Homestead Invitational at Westminster College.

Michel led 6 different Cougars in double-digit scoring with a team-high 19 points, including 16 in the first half. He also collected a career-high 15 rebounds.

"We know we're deep and we have to play as a team," said Michell, "and that's what we did tonight. We're good. I don't know how good because this is just one game and tomorrow is another day. Now we have to sustain this kind of play."

Azusa Pacific drained 9 treys in the opening half to roll out to 50-36 halftime lead and then buried 10 more in the second half to run away from the Bulldogs. The 19 buckets from the 3-point arc breaks the school single-game record of 17 set against Florida College by the 2001 Cougars, a team that featured Michel as a freshman. In all, the Cougars were 17-for-30 for an impressive .633 clip, just 1 made shot shy from the school record shooting percentage. In all, 9 different Cougars made at least one 3-point shot.

"We shoot the ball very well when we get open looks," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "We didn't take one bad 3-point shot tonight. Every one of them was a good look."

Azusa Pacific overwhelmed Montana-Western from the outset, jumping out to an 11-0 lead 4 minutes into the game. Though the Bulldogs rallied back to within 4 at 20-16, the Cougars ran away again with 4 consecutive 3-point baskets, 2 by Nate Pratt and 1 each by Larry English and Spencer Foster, to jet back out to a 10-point lead at 32-22. Then back-to-back threes by Michel pushed the Azusa Pacific lead to 12 points at 46-34 and Montana-Western was never able to get closer the rest of the game. A 17-6 run that stretched across both halves pushed Azusa Pacific's lead to 21 at 57-36 with 17:13 left in the game.

Senior guard Ryan Dillon led the opening onslaught by scoring 9 of the Cougars' first 19 points, all off 3-point shots. In his finest game yet as a Cougar, Dillon finished with 17 points, 15 of which came off 3-point baskets.

Sophomore forward Lance Soderberg recorded a career-high 16 points, including 10 in the second half, to go along with 5 rebounds. Meanwhile, English finished with 5 points and a game-high 8 assists and just 2 turnovers in his 26 minutes of play, the most by any Cougar.

"We needed to have everyone play and play well if we're going to be successful with these 3 games in 3 days," said Odell, who acknowledged he freely substituted in an attempt to keep the Cougars fresh through the weekend.

Pratt, playing his most significant time as a Cougar, finished with a career-high 16 points off the bench and poured in 4 treys himself. Redshirt freshman Josh Dillon, Ryan's younger brother, tallied 11 points in his collegiate debut.

The 41-point victory is the Cougars' largest season-opening win since a 46-point verdict (93-47) over Bethany to start the 1995-96 campaign. Perhaps more impressive is that 41-point victory came over a team that is picked to finish second in the Frontier Conference, a conference that has sent more teams to the NAIA Tournament the past 2 years than any other conference in the nation.

The Cougars continue play in the Homestead Invitational on Friday when they take on defending Frontier champion Carroll College at 3 p.m. (MST).