Tristan King and Demario Butler combined for 35 points to lead the Cougars. King tallied a game-high 21, including 13 in the second half, while Butler added 18 points, including 12 in the first half when he led the Cougar charge from the gate.

Behind a flurry of steals, dunks and treys, the Cougars opened the game on a 25-5 run, capped by a Butler 3-pointer at the 14:31 mark of the first half. Using the same formula they employed in last night's season-opening victory over South Dakota Mines, the Cougars jumped all over RMC with a defensive force that caused the Battlin' Bears to miss 7 of their first 9 shots while inducing 5 turnovers as well.

Scott Zea nailed 4-of-5 shots to tally all 10 of his points in the first 9 minutes, assisting in the Cougar onslaught from the opening tip.

The rest of the game was academic, and the Cougars played that way as well, allowing Rocky to out-score them 73-65 over the final 34 minutes of the contest. The Bears closed the first half on a 12-3 run to pull to within 11 at 52-41 for halftime. They used the long ball to stay in contention in the second half, draining 5-of-7 from beyond the arc to keep the deficit in the neighborhood of a dozen throughout the night.

Elijah Swan took advantage of his quickness to drop in 18 points, including 11 in the first half that got the Bears back into the game.

For the second straight night, Cougar coach Bill Odell opted to go deep into his bench, using 13 different players, with 9 of them working at least 10 minutes tonight. Junior Todd Martin poured in 14 points in a reserve role. Three-year starter Brice Prather added 11 points and a game-high 9 rebounds.

With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 2-0 on the young season while Rocky Mountain suffers its third straight defeat and falls to 2-4.