FULLERTON, Calif. -- The NAIA's No. 2-ranked Azusa Pacific scored 30 of the game's final 40 points and posted a stunningly lopsided 66-41 victory over No. 4 Concordia in the championship game of the Golden State Athletic Conference Postseason Tournament, Tuesday night before approximately 2,100 in the Darling Pavilion at Hope International University.
The victory, which gives Azusa Pacific its fifth GSAC Tourney title since 1997, propels the GSAC regular-season champion Cougars into next week's NAIA Championship Tournament with an NAIA-leading 18-game winning streak.
Having rediscovered its defensive force that went AWOL 3 weeks ago, Azusa Pacific put the screws to Concordia tonight, holding the Eagles to a season-low 41 points and a paltry 28% (16-for-57) shooting from the floor. In fact, the Cougars' defensive dominance was so suffocating that it stifled the GSAC's most potent offense (86 points a game) into less than half its season average, and put the clamps on the NAIA's best 3-point shooting team by forcing the Eagles into 13 misses in 15 attempts from the arc.
"Defense, defense, defense … Coach says it to us a million times," said Cougar sophomore forward Lance Soderberg, who had 12 points and 7 rebounds to aid the Azusa Pacific cause. "There's a belief that the defensive effort in the first 5 minutes of the second half dictates the rest of the game, but tonight at halftime, we said, 'no way, we're playing 20 minutes of defense.'"
At one point this season, Azusa Pacific was allowing its foe just 67 points a game. However, over the past 7 contests, the Cougar defense became lethargic and the opponent took advantage by averaging a portly 77 points since Feb. 21. In their last meeting during the regular season, Concordia poured in an opponent-best 88 points on the Cougars. Azusa Pacific still won by 6, but it required a strong kick to the finish line.
That was not the case tonight.
Azusa Pacific nearly led wire-to-wire in this one, assuming a 5-2 lead it would not relinquish after Ryan Dillon banged home a 3-point shot 2 minutes into the game. The outcome, though, still hung in the balance 3 minutes into the second half when Azusa Pacific clung to a slim 30-27 margin. Using patience on offense and some nifty passing, Azusa Pacific began to slice out the heart of Concordia's strength, attacking its frontline. Time and again, the Cougars dropped in easy lay-ups off back-door cuts or off skip passes along the baseline. Surprisingly, Azusa Pacific scored 32 points, nearly half its output, in the paint, constantly challenging Concordia's mammoth front of 6-foot-10 Nick VanderLaan and 6-foot-8 Tanner Luster.
As a result of its passing-on-a-dime, Azusa Pacific went on an 11-0 run in which 8 of the points were scored on lay-ups while other 3 came at the charity stripe. The Cougars opened up a 47-31 lead on Concordia following a Soderberg lay-up with 9:15.
In the meantime, there was no way Concordia could claw its way back into the game. Azusa Pacific was grabbing every possible rebound
"We knew going into the game that Concordia's best offense is a missed shot," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "No one in the nation attacks the offensive glass better than Concordia, and off that they get easy points."
With 46 missed shots, including second free throw attempts, there were plenty of "easy-point" opportunities for Concordia. Yet, the Cougar frontline of Soderberg, Danny Rosales, Brice Prather and Spencer Foster kept the Eagles at bay, allowing Concordia a mere 6 offensive rebounds. Led by Rosales' career-high 16 caroms, Azusa Pacific dominated the glass by a 49-27 margin.
"They are the type of team that feeds off the offensive boards," said Soderberg, "and we knew we couldn't allow them second and third looks."
Concordia hardly got good first looks.
Eagles guards Jeremy Groth and Chris Victor, who came into the game averaging over 25 points a game together, were a combined 2-for-16 shooting tonight, resulting in just 5 points. And other than Luster and VanderLaan, the rest of the Concordia team was 7-for-41.
"Coming into the game, I just wanted us to play well and improve," said Odell. "The past few weeks haven't been our best basketball. I wanted an effort like this, but I couldn't have imagined a 25-point victory."
Cougar guard Larry English, who spent much of the night hawking Victor, was just as effective at the offensive end, finishing with game highs of 14 points, including 9 in the final 4 minutes, and 7 assists.
"It wasn't the dynamic things that made the difference tonight," said Odell, "but rather the little things. It was a total team effort."
The 25-point margin of victory is the largest ever for a GSAC Tournament championship game. Additionally, the 41-point production is Concordia's second-lowest output ever and the lowest since the Eagles scored 40 points vs. L.A. Baptist (now The Master's) in 1985 during the program's infancy years.
With the victory Azusa Pacific improves to 31-4 while Concordia falls to 29-4. Both teams, along with fellow GSAC member Biola, will advance to the 32-team NAIA Championship Tournament, which will be held March 24-30 in Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.
The NAIA national office will release the entire field with first-round pairings on Wednesday (March 17) by 4 p.m. (PST).
"This type of win is huge for us," said Odell. "Now instead of being a 4 or 5 seed, we should go into the tournament as a 2 seed. The first game back there is so important because of who you might draw in the first round."
