AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific opened defense of its Golden State Athletic Conference title in rather impressive fashion, using a 24-2 run the first 6 minutes of the game to lead the way to an easy 113-60 victory over Hope International in both team's GSAC opener Saturday night in the Felix Event Center.
The Cougars, who have captured 10 of the past 11 GSAC crowns, made 10 of their first 15 shots tonight, including 7-of-10 from the 3-point stripe, to blitz HIU from the opening tip. Senior guard Ryan Dillon led all scorers with 19 points, including 14 in the first 6 minutes of the play.
The Cougars, who have now won 14 straight GSAC openers, started the game by draining their first 4 shots, all from the 3-point arc, to jump out to a 12-0 lead less than 3 minutes into play. Dillon and Larry English each canned 2 from long distance. And while Azusa Pacific provided the opening fire, Hope International supplied the ice, missing its first 9 shots to allow the Cougars to take early control and cruise in for the victory.
"I've seen us get off to starts like that before," said Cougar coach Bill Odell, "but I haven't seen us maintain it like we did tonight. But that was our focus. Ryan really helped us get started. We played hard and played together and knocked down shots."
The game was so lopsided that all 13 available Cougars played in the opening half with 10 of them scoring, and 6 different Cougars buried 3-point shots in the first half. Every Cougar eventually scored, and the team finished with 15 treys, 2 shy of the school record.
"We wanted to take them out of the game right away," said Dillon. "We just got open shots and hit them. This team can get open shots with it offensive execution, it's just a matter of whether or not we'll knock them down."
Freshman center Brice Prather came off the bench to aid Dillon's effort by tossing in a season-high 16 points while fellow freshman Spencer Foster added another 13 points off the bench on 6-for-9 shooting.
Hope International, which was down 58-21 at halftime, was paced by Tony Roberts' 17 points.
"I couldn't make a thing in warm-ups and usually when I do that, I feel pretty good going into the game," Dillon added.
With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 5-3 overall, 1-0 in the GSAC. The Cougars have now won 13 straight over Hope International which falls to 0-9 overall, 0-1 in the GSAC. Additionally, the Royals suffer their 60th consecutive defeat.
