English bookended his play with a flurry of points to jump-start the Cougars in the early going before providing another rush of points late in the game to hold off a Cal Baptist late rush.

English scored 11 of Azusa Pacific's 13 points over the final 4 minutes of the game, including back-to-back 3-point possessions to single-handedly hold off a fast charging Cal Baptist, which used a 14-0 run to rally back into the game and to within 6 of the Cougars at 59-53 with 4:35 left in the game.

"I've been talking to my father back in Chicago, and he said that I need to be aggressive to be effective," said English, who in last week's 28-point loss to The Master's scored just 2 points in 21 minutes of play. "In the late stages of a game, the point guard has to take control. That's his job, and that's the job I want."

As impressive as English's play was, so too was the Cougar defense. Azusa Pacific held Cal Baptist to just 2 field goals through the first 11 minutes of the second half, including 7 minutes without a bucket. Cal Baptist, which last month set the NAIA record for most points in a game with 180, was held to just 39 through nearly 32 minutes of play against Azusa Pacific. Freshman Mike Hornbuckle spearheaded the effort by locking down the GSAC's leading scorer Terrance Johnson, who finished with 17 points, 5 below his season average. However, Johnson scored only 5 points when Hornbuckle was in the game and was held scoreless in the second half until knocking down back-to-back meaningless 3-point baskets in the final 24 seconds.

"(Assistant) Coach (Jeff) Rutter did a great job scouting Johnson and getting me ready for him," said Hornbuckle. "I knew exactly what he was going to do. I could tell I was getting to him because he started talking to me and then yelling at his teammates."

Marshall Hartman and Ron Bailey, both of whom scored 12 points for Cal Baptist, snapped the Lancers out of the doldrums by combining for 11 points on a 16-3 run that gave the Lancers some hope in the waning moments. However, English put a stop to the bleeding, and Brice Prather, who was the only other Cougar in double figures with 12 points, buried a couple of free throws off a fouled put-back with just over a minute to play to join English as the only Cougars to score in the final 8 minutes of the game.

"To win the GSAC you can't have ups and downs," said Cougar coach Bill Odell, who has led Azusa Pacific to the GSAC title 11 times in the past 12 years. "I challenged the guys at halftime and they responded."

For the first time in 5 games, Azusa Pacific had the full compliment of its 12-man roster. Sophomore Spencer Foster returned to the court for the first time in 2 weeks and recorded 9 points and 7 rebounds in 19 minutes.

"Hopefully we've experienced the worst part this season has to offer, and we've responded to it," said Odell. "We're playing harder, and we're playing better."

English scored 9 points in an Azusa Pacific game-opening 19-9 run. The Cougars pushed their first-half cushion to as much as 12 and were still up by 11 at 32-21 following a Prather lay-up with just under 6 minutes remaining. The Lancers answered and rallied to within 3 at 32-29 before English drained his third trey of the half to keep Cal Baptist at bay. Azusa Pacific went into the locker room at halftime up 35-32.

Azusa Pacific, which has now won 7 straight over Cal Baptist, improves to 12-5 on the season, 4-2 in the GSAC, just a half game out of first place. Cal Baptist, which came into the game tied for the GSAC lead, falls to 11-4 overall, 3-2 in the GSAC.