AZUSA, Calif. -- Although its student fan section was celebrating Christmas in the only December home game on Azusa Pacific's schedule, the Cougars were not in a giving holiday spirit on the floor as they handed previously-unbeaten Cal State San Marcos an 85-76 defeat Tuesday night at the Felix Event Center.
Azusa Pacific led by 17 at halftime, 49-32, but Cal State San Marcos came roaring back in the first 10 minutes of the second half to tie the game at 63-63 with 9:40 remaining. Junior forward Jared Zoller sparked a 7-0 run to answer the CSUSM rally with one of nine Cougar three-pointers. When the lead was whittled back down to a single point at 72-71 with 4:32 to play, it was junior guard Bruce English who scored four straight to spark a 13-3 run that gave Azusa Pacific an 11-point cushion, 85-74, with just over a minute to play.
"Cal State San Marcos deserves a lot of credit for getting back into the game, and they are a very good team that's won a lot of games already and will win a lot more this year," Azusa Pacific head coach Justin Leslie said. "We needed to be tested, to pull together, and find a way to get a win, and this was very encouraging for us because we haven't had a game that's been tied that required us to pull together at the end."
Senior guard Troy Leaf led all scorers with 24 points, his sixth 20-point effort in eight games this season, and English was one of three others in double figures for the Cougars, who shot 54 percent (31-for-57) overall and 45 percent (nine-of-20) from beyond the three-point line. Led by eight rebounds each from senior point guard Robert Sandoval and true freshman forward Petar Kutlesic, Azusa Pacific posted a 37-28 margin on the boards for its seventh positive rebounding margin in eight games.
Sandoval nearly registered a triple-double, adding 11 points and nine assists to go with his eight rebounds as he moved into the top-10 of Azusa Pacific's career assists leaders with a four-year total of 410. Leaf scored 13 of his 24 points in the second half, including a three-pointer with 1:51 left that gave the Cougars an 83-74 margin. He scored seven of Azusa Pacific's final nine points.
"We knew Cal State San Marcos was a very talented offensive team that's never out of a game," Leaf said. "We knew that run was coming from them, but when we needed to regroup defensively in the last five minutes, we were able to do what we needed because we've learned a lot about how to close out games in a lot of games like this the last few years. We don't shy away from those moments, and we're there to make those plays."
The victory wraps up the non-conference portion of the schedule for the Cougars, who are now 7-1 overall as they kick off Pacific West Conference play with five straight December road games over the next three weeks. Azusa Pacific visits Fresno Pacific and Point Loma the next two Saturdays before a three-game week in the Bay Area to take on Holy Names, Dominican, and Academy of Art.
"I've known since the summer that this team had a chance to develop a special chemistry and put it all together on the floor," Leslie said. "We're going to need different guys to step up on different nights, but I'm optimistic. We're nowhere near our potential yet, but we've got a shot to keep grinding and keep growing and get better from here."
Azusa Pacific rolled to its sixth double-digit halftime lead in eight games this season, taking a 49-32 advantage into the break against a CSUSM team that was unbeaten through 10 games with five victories over opponents ranked in the top-25 of the NAIA. The only time Cal State San Marcos led was with a free throw on its opening possession, which the Cougars quickly answered 18 seconds later with senior forward Christian Katuala's layup at the other end. Sandoval's three-pointer with 12:19 left pushed the lead to 20-9, and the Cougars finished the half with a 21-8 run over the final 6:37.
Five different players made three-pointers in the opening half, as Azusa Pacific hit seven-of-12 from long range and shot 59 percent (17-for-29) overall before halftime.
Cal State San Marcos, which was playing its seventh game in 14 days, was led by a 23-point effort from its leading scorer Blake Nash, although he required 21 shot attempts and hit just three-of-12 three-pointers to reach his team-high scoring total. He did provide CSUSM with a team-high seven assists, as all five San Marcos starters reached double figures in scoring. Cal State San Marcos became the sixth opponent in eight games that Azusa Pacific has held below 30 percent shooting from three-point range, going six-of-25 from beyond the arc.
