However, the Cougars proved him right.

The NAIA's No. 9-ranked Azusa Pacific, which came in with a 3-game losing – a first in 14 years, rolled over Christian Heritage from the opening tip and blasted out of the doldrums and back into the GSAC lead with a convincing 81-69 victory over the hottest team in the conference.

The Cougars never trailed in this one, a rare accomplishment for a squad that has struggled out of the gate in recent weeks. Azusa Pacific opened the game on a 24-7 run by canning 10 of 11 field goals at one stretch, including 8 straight shots, and 4 of those were 3-pointers.

Sophomore Spencer Foster typified the Cougar turnaround in his play alone. After combining for just 14 points on 4-for-21 shooting in the past 3 losses, Foster turned the tables with a game-high 23 points tonight on an 8-for-15 clip from the floor. He buried his first 4 shots, which included a trio of 3-pointers, and had 11 points in a 3-minute span.

While Foster carried the offensive load early on, a collective set of Cougars put the locks on a Christian Heritage offense that came into the game averaging 75 points a contest over the past 9 games, 8 of which the Hawks had won, including victories over nationally-ranked Concordia and Biola. Yet, CHC missed 17 of its first 24 (29%) shots and committed 12 first-half turnovers which Azusa Pacific translated into 16 bonus points and a very comfortable 47-24 halftime lead.

"It was very good to see us making shots early on," said Azusa Pacific coach Bill Odell, who pushed his personal winning streak over Christian Heritage to 24 straight. "We played good defense tonight and tried to run the floor more in order to wear down their big guys."

Freshman Mike Hornbuckle put together his third consecutive strong outing, dropping in 15 points, including 3 off a long-distance rainbow trey that capped Azusa Pacific's game-opening 24-7 blitz. At the other end of the floor, Hornbuckle again locked down CHC's leading scorer Tyler Hayes, who finished with just 9 points on 3-for-12 shooting. In 2 games vs. Azusa Pacific this year and with Hornbuckle in his face, Hayes is 6-for-22 with 17 points. In the other 27 games, Hayes is averaging 14.6 points and shooting.

"Mike continues to do a great defensive job for us," said Odell, "and he is getting better at the offensive end. We've wanted him to shoot, and he is now that he is gaining more confidence."

Christian Heritage, which was paced by Lewis Lloyd's 18 points 15 of which came in the second half, made a mini run early the second half, using a 13-2 run to cut Azusa Pacific's huge lead to 12 at 49-37. However, Hornbuckle settled Azusa Pacific with another 3-pointer, and Foster drained his fourth trey of the game to get the Cougar lead back out to 20 at 59-39.

After the first couple of minutes of the second half, we settled down, started moving the ball and made some shots," said Odell. "But you have to remember, Christian Heritage is a very good team. They're big and they kind of overpowered us on the boards.

Sophomore center Brice Prather added 14 points and 9 rebounds. Over the past 7 games, Prather is averaging 13.1 points and 8.1 rebounds.

Combined with Biola's last-minute loss at Westmont tonight, Azusa Pacific leapfrogs back into first place in the GSAC, a half-game ahead of the Eagles and Cal Baptist with 2 games remaining.

Azusa Pacific improves to 21-8 overall, 13-5 in the GSAC. Christian Heritage is momentarily denied its fourth 20-win season in the past 6 years and falls to 19-10 overall, 10-8 in the GSAC.