AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific entered Christmas break with the second-longest winning streak in NCAA Division II, and the No. 15-ranked Cougars emerged from the two-week layoff with another dominant effort to extend its winning streak to 12 with Saturday's 94-70 win over Holy Names.
"After being focused for such a long time on just winning the next game, we used this past week of practice just getting back to basics," Azusa Pacific head coach <>Justin Leslie said. "We were able to do a lot of different things to challenge ourselves cerebrally, and I was very pleased that this was a good game for us to go out and execute those things we focused on. We're continuing to develop and grow, and we still have our best basketball in front of us."
Senior point guard Robert Sandoval surpassed 1,000 career points in the victory with a team-high 12-point effort, passing the milestone with the last of his 12 points on a three-pointer that gave Azusa Pacific a 74-51 lead with 7:39 left in the game.
"It's an incredible blessing for me to be at Azusa Pacific and contribute to this program in that way," Sandoval said. "Whatever my team needs me to do, I'll do it because I just want to help the team win. A milestone like this means a lot to me personally because it represents a way I was able to contribute to the team. It's an incredible blessing to be on a team where players sacrifice their individual goals for the team goals."
Sandoval was five-for-seven from the field, hitting two-of-three from three-point range, and he added a game-high six assists for a balanced Cougar offense which featured seven players in double figures.
"Scoring 1,000 points is a significant accomplishment, and it speaks to the quality and effectiveness Robert has had over four years," Leslie said. "He has contributed to a lot of really good teams, and I'm happy and proud of him for this accomplishment."
The 12-game winning streak is now tied for the 11th-longest in program history, and Azusa Pacific becomes one of just five Cougar teams to win 13 of its first 14 games as the Cougars improved to 13-1 overall and 6-0 in the Pacific West Conference with Saturday's victory, which was Azusa Pacific's PacWest home opener.
Seniors Andy Jones and Kevin Stafford each scored 11 points, and senior guard Troy Leaf was joined by three others who came off the bench (Bruce English, LyDell Cardwell, and Will Ward) to score 10 points each.
The Cougars also controlled the boards by a 47-32 margin, as senior forward Christian Katuala and freshman forward Petar Kutlesic led the way with eight rebounds each. In 20 minutes of action, Katuala scored seven points to go with his eight boards, and Kutlesic added nine points and three assists in his 16 minutes of action as Azusa Pacific produced a 43-15 advantage in bench scoring.
All 10 Cougars who played in the first half scored, and seven of them scored in the first nine minutes for the Cougars as they raced out to a 25-9 lead to start the game. Junior guard LyDell Cardwell drilled back-to-back three-pointers in the midst of the game-opening run, and Azusa Pacific maintained a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the first half. Junior guard Bruce English knocked down a three with 4:10 left in the half to cap a 14-3 run that extended the lead to 22 points, 41-19, and the Cougars carried a 20-point lead into halftime, 48-28.
"We defended really well, especially to start the game, and that gave us a big lead to work with," Leslie said. "We have a number of players, both starters and guys off the bench, who are good basketball players who sacrifice for the good of the team. It's exciting to see different guys step up in different games and to see how excited and happy the team is for those guys."
The margin never dropped below 20 points through the entire second half, and Azusa Pacific led by as many as 30 points on three separate occasions in the second half. For the eighth time this season, the Cougars shot over 50 percent overall and 40 percent on three-pointers, finishing 56 percent (38-for-68) from the field with a 41 percent (nine-for-22) three-point clip.
The 20-point halftime lead was the largest this season for Azusa Pacific, which has led at halftime in all but one game and has produced double-digit halftime leads in 10 of its 14 games. The Cougars never trailed in the game, scoring on a Stafford trey on the team's first offensive possession.
Holy Names dropped to 2-11 overall and 0-5 in the PacWest. The Hawks were led by Dante Robinson's 24-point effort, and Jamarae Ross was the only one other HNU player to reach double figures as he added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Azusa Pacific returns to action next Saturday, Jan. 10, with the second of three straight home games against PacWest Bay Area foes when Dominican visits the Felix Event Center for the second meeting between the teams this year. The Cougars pulled out a 74-71 road win over Dominican when the teams first met on Dec. 16 in San Rafael.
