AZUSA, Calif. -- He has never been an all-conference player, but no one knows the GSAC better than Azusa Pacific senior
Brett Michel, and given the way he is playing at the moment, he will be an All-GSAC honoree by this season’s end.
Michel, who yesterday was named the GSAC Player of the week for his effort in a pair of Cougar wins last week, scored all 16 of his points in the first-half to lead the NAIA’s No. 11-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 93-58 GSAC victory over Fresno Pacific, Tuesday night in the Felix Event Center.
The victory, which is the Cougars’ 11th straight on the season, moves Azusa Pacific into sole possession of first place in the GSAC, a half game ahead of idle Concordia, the defending national champ which is prepping for Thursday’s visit from Azusa Pacific.
“My teammates were getting me the ball, and I was getting good looks and knocking them down,” said Michel. “The first half was one of our better halves this season. Our second half wasn’t so great, so we need to put together 2 complete halves. But, this was a good way to start the next game after a great win last Saturday.”
Azusa Pacific took advantage of a cold-shooting Fresno Pacific, which missed 12 of its first 14 shots, allowing the Cougars to move out to a 19-7 lead 9 minutes into the contest. Meanwhile, Michel scored 11 of the Azusa Pacific’s first 13 points, knocking down a pair of treys and converting a conventional 3-point play in the process.
“We knew that we beat a very good team (The Master’s) by not playing very well last Saturday so it was key for us to get after it defensively from the get-go to be able to take them out of some of the things they wanted to do,” said Azusa Pacific head coach Bill Odell. “We played defense, rebounded and didn’t give up second shots, and that’s why we had success.”
The game got out of hand rather quickly late in the first half. Sparked by a 3-point play by sophomore reserve Nate Pratt, the Cougars went on a 14-3 run to push its cushion to 37-17 with 5 minutes left in the half, and Azusa Pacific settled for the 20-point margin at halftime, up 48-28.
In the second half, led by a host of reserves, the Cougars put the peddle to the metal and led by at least 30 for the game’s final 11 minutes, ballooning the lead to as much as 39 before settling for a 35-point victory. Five different Cougars scored in double figures, led by senior center Danny Rosales’ 17 points, 14 of which came in the first half. Sophomore Lance Soderberg added 13 points, 9 in the second half, while Spencer Foster and Pratt came off the bench to chip in 14 and 13 points, respectively.
“This is not a star-studded team,” said Odell. “We have to be 8-9-10 guys playing really hard and together, and we’ve been doing that and been getting better at that.”
No one epitomizes the “getting-better” factor than Rosales, a former all-state juco player out East Los Angeles Community College, who struggled as a junior in the Cougar system last year. However, over the past 7 games, Rosales is averaging 13.7 points and 7.7 rebounds while converting 64% of his shots.
“My confidence is real high right now, but it’s because of the people playing around me,” said Rosales. “We have guys that can knock down shots, so it opens up the inside for us, and we have other big guys that play off each other nicely.”
The victory sets up a showdown for the GSAC lead Thursday night in Irvine when Azusa Pacific visits No. 4-ranked Concordia for a 7:30 p.m. game.
“This was the effort that we needed coming off The Master’s game and heading into Thursday against Concordia,” said Odell.
With the victory, which is Azusa Pacific’s 25th straight over Fresno Pacific dating back to 1992, the Cougars improve to 13-3 overall, 4-0 in the GSAC. Fresno Pacific suffers its first GSAC setback and falls out of first place with Azusa Pacific, dropping to 9-5 overall, 3-1 in the GSAC.
