AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific picked the perfect moment to claim its first-ever win over Dixie State, avenging last week's overtime loss to the Red Storm with a come-from-behind 72-69 victory which kept the No. 17-ranked Cougars on top of the Pacific West Conference standings.
"The reason this win feels so good is because Dixie State has won the league four of the last five years," Azusa Pacific head coach Justin Leslie said. "They're a great program, and we are building our program in the PacWest with a desire to establish that identity for this program. Getting wins like this against top competition at home is a big statement for us."
Senior guard Troy Leaf scored 15 of his game-high 24 points in the last seven minutes, keeping Azusa Pacific within striking distance until the Cougars erased an eight-point deficit with a 14-3 run over the final four minutes of the game. A short jumper with 4:15 left from Dixie State center Zach Robbins was the last basket of the game for the Red Storm, who led for all but 2:33 of the game and took a 66-58 advantage into the final stretch. However, Dixie committed four turnovers on its final six possessions of the game as Azusa Pacific took the lead for good with 11 straight points.
"We had to give them different looks throughout the game and dig pretty deep into our bag of tricks," Leslie said. "I thought our guys showed a lot of poise after they got us down late; we had to go outside the box, and the guys responded well to catch Dixie off guard."
Leaf hit a pair of free throws at the four-minute mark to answer the Robbins jumper, and a halfcourt trap forced a pass out of bounds from Dixie State point guard Mason Sawyer. Senior guard Kevin Stafford drilled a three-pointer out of the ensuing media timeout, pulling the Cougars within three at 66-63. After Robbins missed an open three-point attempt, Azusa Pacific's 6-foot senior point guard Robert Sandoval cut the lead to one point with a left-handed layup over the 6-foot-10 Robbins.
"We didn't have a choice – we had to win this game to maintain what we've been working for all year," Stafford said. "Late in the game as our defense got better, we started having an easier time offensively. Once we started getting stops on defense, we made extra passes, got into the lane, and put them on their heels a little bit, and that's when we started making shots."
After another Red Storm possession ended with a turnover, Leaf was fouled on a three-point attempt, and he cashed in all three to push the Cougars in front, 68-66, with 1:14 remaining. Leaf came up with a steal at the other end, which failed to produce more points, but freshman forward Petar Kutlesic hauled in the biggest of his team-high eight rebounds and was fouled after Sawyer's missed layup with 16.5 seconds to play. Kutlesic hit the second free throw, making it 69-66, and the Cougars traded free throws with the Red Storm over the final 10 seconds to preserve the three-point win.
"We all just looked at each other and knew that it was time to get stops," Leaf said. "Having so many seniors on this team, we understand how hard it is to win these games against good teams. We just have a never-quit attitude, even though we started out letting them dictate the pace of the game. When we defend, things happen for us on offense, and that's what started to happen for us at the end of the game."
Dixie State held 12-point leads in both halves, and the Red Storm were nearly-perfect from the free throw line, hitting 31-of-33 overall including 31-of-32 before Sawyer intentionally missed his final attempt with just four seconds remaining to give the Red Storm a chance for a rebound and putback. Sawyer, who produced a double-double (17 points, 10 assists) in last week's win over the Cougars, was held to five points, one assist, and six turnovers Saturday, while Robbins led Dixie with 20 points.
"Sawyer is a great player who puts pressure on our defense, and keeping up with him was a challenging defensive assignment for me," Sandoval said. "Dixie State is a great team, and I don't think they've been getting the type of credit they should. They're a very tough team, so it's great to be able to get this win after chewing on that loss to them all week."
Leaf led all scorers with 24 points, and Stafford added 15 points while hitting four-of-six three-pointers. Kutlesic added 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds to lead Azusa Pacific to a 35-30 rebounding edge, and Sandoval produced nine points and three assists. Leaf finished with two three-pointers, rising to third among Azusa Pacific's career leaders in three-pointers with 168.
"Last week, their sixth through 10th man beat us at their place, but we won that battle tonight," Leslie said. "That speaks to the program we're building, that it's bigger than one guy. This was won much farther down the line, and it's great to see the other guys step up and make a huge impact for us in a game like this."
The victory keeps Azusa Pacific on top of the PacWest standings, as the Cougars improve to 17-2 overall and 10-1 in conference play. Dixie State, which had won three straight against nationally-ranked teams, fell to 11-6 overall and 8-3 in the PacWest.
Up next for the Cougars is next week's trip to the Hawaiian Islands for three games in five days (Jan. 29-Feb. 2), which is immediately followed by a visit to No. 10-ranked California Baptist on Saturday, Feb. 7.
