AZUSA, Calif. – Seniors Tristan King, Scott Zea and Demario Butler combined for 66 points, including 39 in the second half, to lead the NAIA's No. 3-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 99-80 nonconference victory over Houghton (N.Y.) College Thursday evening.
The victory, however, was anything but a 19-point decision. In fact, for 30 minutes, it was an unexpected nail-biter between one of college basketball's winningest programs over the past 15 years and a program that had lost 64 of its past 84 games over the previous 4 season. With 10 minutes to go, the game was tied at 68-68.
That's when Zea took over, scoring 12 of his 20 points in a 2-a-half-minute span and collecting 4 of his 8 rebounds in the process. When Zea was done with his command performance, the Cougars were up 89-70, completing a 21-2, 5-minute run that put the game on ice for the Cougars.
"We're very fast everywhere, and we love how our transition game goes," says Zea, who made 7-of-9 shots tonight. "We love to take off and go, but we have to find that fire within each other, and once we do, that's how we get those big runs. I wish we played like that the whole game."
Tristan King led Azusa Pacific with a career-high 26 points, including 12 in the first half to pace an otherwise listless Cougar effort through the first 20 minutes. The Cougars needed an 8-2 run over the final 2 minutes of the half to assume a 44-42 lead at halftime.
"We didn't play with any passion tonight," said Cougar coach Bill Odell. "I think the holiday layoff may have had something to do with it. It was a longer than we usually take, but the guys didn't do the conditioning they needed to during the time off."
The Cougars opened the second half with an 18-10 sprint from the gate in which Butler and King combined for 10 straight points to put the Cougars up 62-52. However, Houghton, rallied back when Allen Goodman scored 7 of his 10 points on the night in a 2-minute stretch that allowed the Highlanders to re-take the lead at 68-66 following a Goodman trey.
However, the triumvirate of King, Zea and Butler took over down the stretch to preserve the Cougars' 11 victory in 12 games this season. Butler finished with 20 points. Junior guard Khalif Ford was the only other Cougar in double figures, tallying 14 points to go along with his game-highs of 8 assists and 4 steals.
Azusa Pacific returns to the hardwood Friday night to host the University of Saint Francis out of Fort Wayne, Ind., which is currently ranked No. 15 in the latest NAIA Division II poll. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
