EL CAJON, Calif. –- The NAIA’s No. 14-ranked San Diego Christian used a 15-3 run down the stretch to overtake No. 9 Azusa Pacific and post an critical 95-85 Golden State Athletic Conference victory Thursday evening at the Ryan Athletic Center in El Cajon, Calif.

With Azusa Pacific clinging to a 64-63 lead with 9 minutes left in the game, Hawk forward Rory Morgan spurred the game-winning run by scoring 6 of his 16 points. He started the outburst with a lay-up and closed it with a lay-up. By the time Azusa Pacific could collect itself, San Diego Christian was up 78-67 with 3:38 remaining. From there Azusa Pacific could get no closer than 6 points on a couple of occasions.

San Diego Christian, one of the GSAC’s worst free throw shooting teams, was clutch in the closing minutes, keeping Azusa Pacific at bay by converting 15-of-18 free throws in the final 2 minutes. Hawk guard Drew Sanchez led all players with 24 points, while Daniel Wall added 13, 10 of which came in the final 8 minutes. Wall drained a 3-pointer to give SDCC a 68-64 lead that seemingly put the Cougars on their heals the rest of the way.

All-American center Rowan Gray added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Gray and Jeremiah Trueman manhandled the Cougar frontline in the first half and led the Hawks to a 43-41 lead at the break.

Cougar wings Tristan King and Demario Butler each tallied 16. Butler added 7 rebounds to his effort before fouling out late in the game.

San Diego Christian, which has now won 3 of the past 5 meetings with Azusa Pacific after enduring a 14-year, 26-game losing streak to the Cougars, was near flawless in its play tonight. The Hawks committed a mere 8 turnovers for the 40 minutes of play while shooting at a fine .525 (32-for-61) clip from the floor.

With the victory, San Diego Christian avenges last month’s 20-point loss in Azusa and leapfrogs the Cougars into second place in the GSAC. The Hawks improve to 17-4 overall, 10-4 in the GSAC. Azusa Pacific falls to 20-5 overall, 10-5 in the GSAC.