AZUSA, Calif. -- Ryan Dillon was so lost that even a Global Positioning Satellite system couldn’t find him. Saturday night, he finally found his way home. And a host of Cougars welcomed him with open arms.

Dillon, a senior shooting guard mired in one of the worst shooting slumps ever known to a Cougar, scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the first half and led the NAIA’s No. 15-ranked Azusa Pacific to an 80-64 Golden State Athletic Conference victory over Vanguard University.

At one point this season Dillon led the GSAC in 3-point shooting, but that seems like an eternity ago. Coming into tonight, he was shooting an icy 22% (13-for-59) from the floor over the past 7 games, which included a polar-like 18% (7-for-39) from the 3-point arc.

Dillon snapped out of the doldrums by making 5-of-8 treys tonight to lead a Cougar team that collectively buried 14 buckets from the 3-point arc, 5 shy of the school-record. In similar fashion to Dillon, fellow senior Brett Michel drained 5-of-8 tonight from the arc to snap out of a funk that had seen him go 1-for-18 over the past 2 games vs. nationally-ranked Concordia and Biola. He finished with 15 points.

“If you want to rank a game, considering what I’ve been going through the past 3 weeks, this is a pretty big game,” said Dillon. “It’s a big turn-around game. When I hit the first shot, I knew I had it. It’s been a long time since I’ve come off a screen and knocked one down.”

Dillon’s game-opening trey ignited an 11-2 Azusa Pacific run from the opening tip. In fact, Dillon had 9 of the Cougars’ first 11 points, all off 3-point shots.

“Ryan certainly has been out of rhythm lately and thinking too much,” said Cougar coach Bill Odell. “He’s a great shooter and just had the kind of night I expect of him.”

Behind the Dillon-Michel onslaught, Azusa Pacific pushed the lead to 24-14 just 8 minutes into the game. At one point Michel and Dillon combined for 3 straight treys to get an offensive machine rolling that had been stagnant in the past 2 games (just 108 points combined vs. Concordia and Biola). By the time Azusa Pacific settled for a 42-27 lead at halftime, the Cougars had made 8 treys and were in complete control, playing with renewed confidence.

Azusa Pacific continued the blowout throughout the second half, building a 29-point cushion (71-42) at one point following a Brice Prather lay-up. With the Cougar starters on the bench, Vanguard, which was led by Horace Wormely’s 18 points, closed the game with a 22-9 run

Prather came off the bench to tally 15 points, including 13 in the second half. Sophomore Nate Pratt registered 9 points with a trio of treys.

With the win, Azusa Pacific’s 13th in the past 14 games, the Cougars improve to 15-4 overall, 6-1 in the GSAC. Vanguard, which suffers its tenth straight loss to Azusa Pacific, falls to 8-9 overall, 2-5 in the GSAC.