For the second straight game, senior forward Scott Zea led the comeback with a career-high 25 points, including 15 in the second half. Senior center Brice Prather tallied 14 points, including 7 in less than 3 minutes down the stretch when the Cougars took advantage of a small Lion defense. Vanguard lost frontline players Miguel Rosales (6-foot-7), Brandon Henderson (6-foot-8) and Matt Davis (6-foot-6), all of whom had fouled out, leaving the Lions without a player over 6-foot-5.

Yet the Cougars also played a man down. For the first time in his 42-year coaching career, Azusa Pacific head coach Bill Odell missed a game, sidelined at home with the stomach flu. Associate head coach Justin Leslie took over the head duties and led the Cougars to their 12th straight victory, though at times it appeared Azusa Pacific might be in trouble.

Azusa Pacific trailed for 22 minutes in the game, which included a 5-point, 46-41 deficit at halftime. The Cougars were still down by as much as 13 at 61-48 less than 6 minutes into the second half before they scored 14 straight points, all part of an 18-2 run that propelled Azusa Pacific into a 66-63 lead with less than 8 minutes left in the game following a Prather short jumper.

"There was one point in the second half where we had a lot of reserves in the game," said Leslie, who received a call from Odell around noon telling him that he would be the head coach of a game for the first time in his 5-year coaching career, "and we weren't scoring much, but neither was Vanguard. Our guys set the defensive tone at that point, and from then on Vanguard realized it was going to have earn its points."

Vanguard struggled the rest of the way, missing 13 of its final 18 shots over the last 14 minutes and not converting a field goal in the final 4 minutes.

In the meantime, the Cougars caught fire, converting 14 of its final 19 shots of the game, including 9 straight at one point in which they blew open the game, turning a 64-63 lead into an 88-77 cushion.

"Once our defense puts it together, our offense begins to click," said Zea. "Our defensive intensity wasn't real good for much of the game, but it is hard to talk to each other and communicate on defense in this place because it's a loud hostile environment."

Vanguard rode the hot hand of Kevin Dalafu who tallied 25 points on the night, including the Lions' final 8 of the night. He made 8-of-11 shots, including a pair from 3-point territory, and thwarted several early Cougar attempts to rally with key baskets. However, Vanguard lost Henderson for the rest of the night just 2-and-a-half minutes into the second half and then lost Rosales with just over 8 minutes to play. Azusa Pacific immediately took the lead for good on a pair of Zea free throws and never relinquished it again. Shortly thereafter, Zea buried a bomb from the top of the arc to give Azusa Pacific a 70-65 lead.

"I can't describe it, but it's a good feeling the past 2 games," said Zea, who scored 49 in 2 games this week. "What happened in the Point Loma game seemed to carry over to tonight. I've just tried to focus on the court."

Tristan King chipped in with 11 points, and Demario Butler added 10 points.

"Not having Coach (Odell) here tonight was maybe a little confusing for everyone at first because it's not what we're used to," added Zea, "but we were in good hands with Leslie. There is no one I'd rather have backing up Coach Odell than him, and I'm glad we got him his first win tonight."

Odell has coached over 1,200 games in his career, including 546 at Azusa Pacific, and he had never missed a coaching assignment until tonight.

"I know how hard it was for coach to make that decision," said Leslie, who also spent 5 seasons as a player for Odell. "He expressed confidence in me, and that was all I needed. I wanted to make him feel good about his decision."

Azusa Pacific has now won 12 straight and the last 11 by at least 10 points or more. The Cougars improve to 16-1 overall, 6-1 in the GSAC. Vanguard falls to 4-12 overall, 1-6 in the GSAC.