AZUSA, Calif. -- The NAIA's No. 2-ranked Azusa Pacific is flirting with disaster … and this isn't the time of the year to be winking at anything.
Since knocking off defending national champion Concordia back on February 21, the Cougars have been less than impressive in the subsequent 5 games, and tonight it was no different.
Other than a 3-minute burst of play that resulted in a 12-2 run early in the second half, the Cougars, who are the top seed of the GSAC Postseason Tournament, had everything they could handle and then some in their first-round game with 8-seeded Vanguard. It was enough of a run that allowed Azusa Pacific to post an 80-68 victory, but there have been better games and better efforts in the past.
"We weren't ready to play tonight," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "We were flat and not playing hard. We weren't ready to match their intensity until we had a little talk at halftime."
And the talk worked, for awhile. Azusa Pacific finally took advantage of its considerable height advantage and Danny Rosales and Lance Soderberg teamed for 9 of the Cougars' 12 points that turned a 40-37 lead into a 52-39 cushion less than 5 minutes into the second half. From there Azusa Pacific kept Vanguard at bay, but the Lions seemingly were always within striking distance.
Rosales, who felt Odell's ire much of the first half when he found himself on the bench for 9 minutes, responded quite nicely by scoring 11 of his game-high 19 points in the second half. He converted 9-of-10 shots that included an assortment of lay-ups and one nice-looking jumper in the key.
Freshman Spencer Foster chipped in 15 points, including a much-needed 13 in the first half. He sparked a 13-1 run with 5 points of his own and buried a corner trey that knotted the game at 19-19 after Vanguard ran out to an 18-8 lead to start the game.
"Right now we're just not clicking," said Foster. "Something is not right. We have to go back to what got us here and that's playing team defense together and playing hard."
Some might be hard-pressed to feel sympathy for the Cougars, who have now won 15 straight and 27 of their past 28. Tonight's victory moves Azusa Pacific into the semifinals of the GSAC Postseason Tournament for the fifth straight year and for the tenth time in the tourney's 11-year history. Azusa Pacific will meet No. 6 seed Point Loma Nazarene on Saturday (March 16) at 7:30 p.m. in the Darling Pavilion on the campus of Hope International. The other GSAC Tourney semi matches Concordia against The Master's at 5:30 p.m.
Azusa Pacific now has won 13 straight over Vanguard, but the last 2 were struggles. Less than 2 weeks ago Cougar senior Brett Michel hit a 40-foot shot at the buzzer to give Azusa Pacific a 75-72 win at Vanguard. The narrow escape seemingly did not awaken the Cougars, but it certainly fueled the Lions.
"They had confidence tonight because of the way the played against us down there," said Odell. "Roseborough is like a 47-percent shooter, but against us he makes all kind of shots, including 3-pointers."
Roseborough led a quartet of Lions in double-digit scoring with 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting. He tallied 14 second-half points, and guard Horace Wormely scored 8 of his 12 points in the second frame as well. Twice the Lion duo paired up to shave Azusa Pacific 13-point leads down to 6, the final one coming at 65-59 with 7:19 left in the game following a 2 Wormely free throws.
Both times, though, Azusa Pacific put the ball on the blocks and let Rosales and Soderberg go to work.
"We were just bigger and better down low," said Foster. "We had a mismatch, and we had to exploit it."
Senior Ryan Dillon finished with 13 points, the final 3 coming off a nail-in-the-coffin trey from the 24 feet out. The 3-pointer, his second of the night, was his 98th of the season, tying Kevin Daley's single-season school record originally set in 2000.
Azusa Pacific now heads out on the road for the rest of its season, first at the GSAC Tourney and then at the NAIA Championship Tournament in Kansas City, Mo., beginning March 24. The Cougars, who are 29-4 overall, finish with a 15-1 mark at home and have now won 36 of their past 39 games in the Felix Event Center, which of course is nothing to wink about.
