AZUSA, Calif. -- The message Azusa Pacific head coach Justin Leslie delivers to his team after every game is the same. Win or lose, "your biggest game is your next game."

Thanks to Monday night's resounding 86-65 victory over Chaminade which completed a three-game sweep at home against a trio of the Pacific West Conference's Hawai?i-based programs, the Cougars can officially call Saturday's upcoming matchup with California Baptist its biggest of the year. The matchup between NCAA Division II Top-25 programs has the stakes to match the hype, as Saturday's winner controls its own destiny to claim at least a share of the PacWest regular-season title.

"For Saturday to mean anything, we had to win tonight," Leslie said. "I'm grateful for this win and this team, and now we have an opportunity to play for a shot at the conference championship against a great opponent. The Felix Event Center should be rocking, and I'm looking forward to a great game on Saturday."

It might have been easy to overlook any of the three games standing between Azusa Pacific's last defeat, an 87-80 setback at CBU on Feb. 7, but the Cougars handled 13th-ranked BYU-Hawaii, Hawai?i Pacific, and Chaminade with ease, winning three games in five days by an average margin of 21 points thanks to a bench that contributed 35.7 points per game in the recent three-game stretch. Azusa Pacific, which improves to 22-4 overall, remains tied for the PacWest lead with Dixie State at 15-3 in conference play, while California Baptist sits a half-game back with a 14-3 PacWest mark.

Monday's performance was led by junior guard Bruce English, who drilled three first-half treys and finished with a team-high 17 points to lead the Cougar reserves, who combined for 47 points off the bench.

"Coach Leslie does a great job of making sure our focus is on the next game," English said. "Our mentality was that this game was the biggest game of our season, and we played like it."

In addition, Azusa Pacific was impressive beyond the three-point line, tying a season-high with 15 three-pointers. Ten of those threes came in the first half, as English and senior guard Kevin Stafford nailed three each to guide Azusa Pacific to a 49-32 halftime advantage.

"Tonight, we started both halves very poorly, but what encouraged me in terms of game control was how much depth our team has," Leslie said. "Each time we subbed, it elevated our team, and those guys were huge to come in and give us a boost when we desperately needed it."

A Stafford trey was the Cougars' only scoring in the first 3:30 of the game as Chaminade edged to a 6-3 lead, but senior guard Troy Leaf sparked a 14-2 run with the first of four three-pointers in a three-minute, 25-second stretch to give the hosts a 17-8 lead. Midway through the half, Chaminade pulled within six points, 21-15, but Stafford and senior point guard Robert Sandoval each knocked down a three-pointer in a 10-0 outburst as Azusa Pacific maintained a double-digit lead for the final nine minutes of the half.

"Troy and Robert did a great job of getting in the lane, and the credit goes to them for drawing in the defense to get the rest of us some open shots," English said. "This team has a special energy and ability to read each other and know exactly what we need to do in very specific moments."

Chaminade scored the first nine points of the second half, part of an 18-5 run in the first six minutes after halftime that closed the gap to just four points, 54-50, with 14:05 to play. However, it was another pair of three-pointers, first from junior guard LyDell Cardwell and then another from Sandoval, which bookended a 14-0 run that put the Cougars back in control of the game for good with a 68-50 lead with 10:14 remaining.

Perhaps most impressive in the run was how Azusa Pacific responded to the threat with its starting senior backcourt of Leaf and Sandoval resting on the bench for nearly seven minutes during the game-clinching run. They left the game for a breather with a 49-41 lead, and by the time they returned, their teammates had pushed the lead to 15, which Sandoval extended to 18 with a three-pointer, one of three he hit in a 15-point, seven-rebound performance.

"That wasn't the best stretch they've had in their season, but they're entitled to that because they've been great for us all year," Leslie said. "We needed to make a change at that point to get this game back, and they were great teammates on the bench. They supported the guys who were in the game, and when they got back into the game they handled their business and got us into the home stretch with a big lead."

Leaf finished with 11 points and a game-high six assists with no turnovers, and freshman forward Petar Kutlesic contributed a productive 10-point, seven-rebound effort in 22 minutes off the bench. Cardwell added eight points, and Stafford's nine points all came from beyond the three-point line as the Cougars finished the game 15-of-33 (46 percent) on three-pointers.

"We have a lot of confidence in our bench, and they showed tonight why they've earned that confidence," Sandoval said. "We all know our roles really well, and when we stay in those roles it's very easy to trust each other. Our throwback game into the post was really there for us, and I wanted to do what I could to get some good looks for our shooters."

Chaminade, which fell to 9-14 overall and 6-11 in the PacWest, now sits on the brink of elimination from PacWest Tournament eligibility. Frankie Eteuati led the Silverswords with game-highs of 19 points and 15 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double, and Kiran Shastri came off the bench to score 13 points.