AZUSA, Calif. -- Senior
Brett Michel stepped to the forefront when he was needed most to lead the NAIA’s No. 12-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 76-67 Golden State Athletic Conference victory over Cal Baptist, Tuesday evening in the Felix Event Center.
Struggling to find a rhythm all night, the Cougars turned to Michel midway through the second half, who in turn scored 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second frame, leading Azusa Pacific to its 20th victory over Cal Baptist in the past 21 meetings.
In a see-saw battle early in the second half, freshman forward Spencer Foster gave Azusa Pacific the lead for good on a shot jumper off a Michel pass that put the Cougars up 45-44. Michel then scored 10 of the Cougars’ next 15 points, capped by his lone trey of the game that gave Azusa Pacific in insurmountable 59-49 lead with 8:56 left to play.
“Someone had to step and not just in scoring,” said Michel. “Someone had to make plays and that’s what I tried to do. It was an ugly win, but we’ll take it. You can’t expect all these conference wins to be pretty. We pulled it out at the end, and I guess you could chalk it up to experience.”
Azusa Pacific pushed its lead to as much as 14 points which it held for nearly 4 minutes before the Lancers finished off the game with a 7-2 run to get to within 9.
Danny Rosales added 13 points, including 11 in the first half that helped a sloppy set of Cougars stay within range of Cal Baptist. Lance Soderberg added 12 while Foster came off the bench to spark the Cougars with 11 points.
It took a career night by Cal Baptist junior Luke Seidel to keep the Lancers in striking distance. Seidel drained 10-of-13 shots, including 4-of-5 from the 3-point arc, to finish with a game-high 24 points, his most ever in GSAC play.
As much as the Cougars battled Cal Baptist in the first half, they may have found a greater opponent in themselves. Uncharacteristically, Azusa Pacific committed 8 of their season-high 21 turnovers in the first 9 minutes of the game, allowing a 6-1 lead to evaporate into a 16-11 deficit. Michel’s lay-up midway through a 13-3 Cougar run that closed the half gave Azusa Pacific a 26-25 lead. Ryan Dillon drained a trey from the right wing as the halftime horn sounded to provide Azusa Pacific with a 34-28 intermission lead, its largest cushion in the opening half.
Azusa Pacific has now won 14 of its past 15 games to improve to 16-4 overall, 7-1 in the GSAC. Cal Baptist falls to 9-10 overall, 2-5 in the GSAC.
