AZUSA, Calif.-- The first 32 minutes were shaping up to be another classic.
The final 8 weren't, but for the Azusa Pacific portion of the 3,602 in attendance, it didn't matter.
Azusa Pacific, ranked No. 15 in the NAIA, closed the game with a 20-9 run to put away No. 8 Biola, 74-59, in a key mid-season GSAC contest before a sold-out Felix Event Center crowd Friday night.
"That was the biggest crowd I've ever seen here," said Azusa Pacific head coach Bill Odell. "The emotions of it, and to have that kind of support for the kids was mind boggling. A few of the parents behind our bench couldn't believe the size of the crowd. A couple of the new guys were saying 'wow!' It helped us maintain the 40 minutes."
With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 17-5 overall and assumes sole possession of the GSAC lead at 9-2 with 9 games remaining. It is the Cougars' eighth straight win. Biola falls to 20-3, 8-3.
Larry English, who back in November scored a career-high 30 points in a 66-64 loss in La Mirada, took control from the opening tip and canned a game-high 23.
"It's a rivalry and I like to live up to the hype," said English. "People were talking about it all week. I came out here last year and knew about the rivalry but really didn't know it. I think having a year under my belt really helped."
The Cougars led wire-to-wire, but were never able to pull away until the end. Amazingly, the Eagles had just one possession to tie the game, and even that came just 6 minutes into the game. The Eagles got within 2 twice in the second half, but the Cougars answered each time to push the margin back to 4.
Christian Collazo hit a pair of free throws to bring the Eagles to within 4 (54-50) with 8 minutes to play. The Eagles wouldn't be heard from again.
Jeff Bates started it all with his second trey of the night, and English put Biola out of its misery with his fourth of the night with 33 seconds left. In between, the Eagles committed 5 of their 12 turnovers and hit just 2-of-7 shots from the floor. And as poor as the Eagles were, the Cougars were that much better, hitting 7-of-11 shots and all 4 of their free throws.
Bates' bomb from the right wing not only ignited the game-ending run, but it was the first of 9 straight Cougar points that blew the lead up to 63-50 with 4:26 to play and for all intents and purposes put this one away.
Terrell Young finished with 11 points, and he momentarily stemmed the tide with a jumper with 3:59 left. But Brice Prather converted a lay-up, and after a Young turnover, Colton Cornfoot scored a put back off his own miss, and the Cougars had their largest lead of the night (67-52) with 2 minutes remaining.
And if that weren't enough of an exclamation point, Lance Soderberg's fast break dunk off a nice assist from Josh Dillon with 1:38 to go sent the GSAC-record crowd into afrenzy.
Soderberg scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, going a 4-for-5 from the floor. As a team, the Cougars shot 61.5% (16-for-26) in the second half.
"We shot too many threes in the first half but did a much better job in the second half," said Odell.
Biola came into the game leading the GSAC in scoring defense, giving up just 56 points per contest. The Cougars' 74 points is 18 more than Biola usually allows and it is the second-highest total the Eagles have surrendered this year.
"For us to score 74 points against them is really something," said Odell. "They do a great job of getting you out of what you want to do. You saw 2 really good defensive teams tonight."
But the real story was the play of English. The capacity crowd knew it would one of those games when he buried a 3-pointer just 15 seconds into the game. The Cougars scored the game's first 8 points. English had 6 of them.
"The job of point guard is to run the show," said English. "I have to step up every game. This is my last year of college ball, so I want to go out on top. That's what I'm striving for. This is the best crowd I've ever seen at APU, and I'm glad we got the 'W' for the fans."
Young scored a lay-up to make it a 4-point (14-10) game with 9:52 left in the first half when the Cougars scored 8 straight points over the next 1:49, keyed by back-to-back treys by Spencer Foster and Bates, to take a 22-10 lead. The Eagles scored 7 straight to get within 5 (25-20) with 2:57 to play, but English answered with a pair of free throws. The Cougars led 30-24 at the break.
Cornfoot, who is still battling back from off-season knee surgery, finished with 9 points (all in the second half) and 7 rebounds (5 in the first half).
"Colton had one of his best games," said Odell. "He had some big rebounds and big shots in the second half. Playing at 70%, I thought he really played well."
Prather also finished with 9. Foster chipped in with 8 points and 8 rebounds.
With the win, Azusa Pacific now leads the storied series with Biola, 44-42.
