The NAIA's No. 9-ranked Azusa Pacific had the whole package and then some, scoring 7 unanswered points in the final 82 seconds to fight off rival Westmont for a 77-72 Golden State Athletic Conference victory in Murchison Gym Tuesday evening.

Senior guard Larry English scored 4 points in a 40-second span, including 3 off a game-deciding conventional 3-point play to rally Azusa Pacific back into the lead at 74-72 with 42 seconds left in the game. With the Cougars trailing 72-71, English drove the gut, made a go-ahead lay-up and was fouled by Westmont's Josh Ware. After English made the free throw, Westmont, which had rallied from 9 down in the second half to get back into the game, missed a golden opportunity to tie the score at 74 when Matt Burkholder missed a wide-open lay-up with 25 seconds left. On the Cougars' ensuing possession, Nate Pratt made 1 free throw to push the Cougar cushion to 3. Following a timeout to set up Westmont's potential game-tying 3-point play, Ware instead dribbled the ball off his knee as he came up court, giving Azusa Pacific the ball and the game with 12 seconds to play. Lance Soderberg made 2 free throws for the final margin of victory.

"We've been there before and that's how we played down the stretch," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "It was a matter of digging into the mind and being mentally tough. I wasn't pleased with our overall effort, but I was pleased with our play at the end."

Azusa Pacific led throughout the entire first half and was up 38-31 at halftime. The Cougars were still up by 9 less than 4 minutes into the second half when Westmont, which for many years has been known for its never-say-die attitude, began to cut away at the Cougar lead. In crunch time, the Warriors got their first lead of the game at 68-67 on a Burkholder trey with 3:27 left in the game. Burkholder hit another jumper to put the Warriors up 72-70 with 1:32 remaining. However, it was the Warriors' final basket of the evening as the Cougars kept their poise to pull out their fourth straight win over Westmont and their seventh in the past 10 visits to Murchison Gym.

"We hung in there and showed our character," said Odell. "At this point in the season, to get a win up here is really big. It's a good win for us."

English, Soderberg and Brice Prather combined for 51 of the Cougars' 77 points. English finished with a team-high 19, including 10 in the first half. Prather added a career-high 17 points to go along with a team-high 7 rebounds. Soderberg had 15 points, including 6 in the final 7 minutes.

Westmont was paced by Nick Debban, who made 9-of-11 shots to tally a game-high 20 points. Santiago Aguirre registered 18 points (8-for-11) and 9 rebounds. Burkholder grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds.

"Westmont played very well," said Odell. "They made shots, and that was the best game I've seen Aguirre play. He was very good tonight."

Azusa Pacific pushed its season-high winning streak to 9 straight and improves to 18-5 overall. The Cougars keep their 1-game lead in the GSAC with a 10-2 conference mark. Westmont, which falls for the fourth time in the past 6 games after being ranked No. 9 in the NAIA, is now 14-6 overall, 7-5 in the GSAC.