AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific needed every last second to complete a perfect three-game week, edging Chaminade for an 88-87 victory with a Connor Peterson free throw with 1.9 seconds left for the decisive final point.

The Cougars headed into the final minute trailing by two, 86-84, after Chaminade's Kiran Shastri knocked down all three free throws after he was fouled on a three-point attempt. When Peterson's layup was off the mark in transition, Azusa Pacific needed its PacWest-leading defense to make a stop, which it did when Petar Kutlesic hauled in a missed layup at the other end. Senior forward Jared Zoller knocked down a three-pointer with 27 seconds remaining, putting the Cougars back up by a point, 87-86.

Chaminade's leading scorer, Kuany Kuany, was fouled down low with 17 seconds remaining, and after missing the front end of two free throws, sank the second to tie the game at 87-87. Azusa Pacific took a timeout with eight seconds remaining to set up the final play, and Peterson drew a non-shooting foul on the perimeter with 1.9 seconds to play. He made the first and missed the second, and Zoller tipped the rebound back to a teammate as time expired to clinch the one-point win.

"Teams that want to be in contention for a championship have to find a way when it counts," Azusa Pacific head coach Justin Leslie said. "At the end of the game, I just told the team that if they found something they liked, they should just take it. We needed to get a stop and have good fundamentals, and good teams have to find ways to do those fundamentals in big moments."

In all, the score was tied 15 times and the lead changed hands 18 times, with 10 ties and 10 lead changes occurring after halftime. Neither team led by more than two points in the final 8:49, and three points was the widest margin in the final 12:53 of the game.

Kutlesic notched his second double-double of the season, scoring a career-high 15 points to lead all Cougar scorers while tying a career-high in rebounds with 14. His performance marked the third consecutive game Azusa Pacific has been led in scoring by a career-high performance with Corey Langerveld scoring 18 in Tuesday's 80-72 win at Concordia whileBruce English scored 19 in Thursday's 69-63 home victory over Dixie State.

"We're still learning and getting comfortable with each other, and I think our depth is something we can continue to count on," Leslie said. "What I would like to get better with is our consistency. I'd like to avoid having a career-high and then not playing well, and I think we can meet in the middle somewhere and make us that much harder to prepare for."

Kutlesic led a balanced scoring effort from Azusa Pacific, which featured five double-figure scorers. Langerveld and LyDell Cardwell both scored 14 points, with each hitting four three-pointers for a Cougar offense which went 13-of-34 (38 percent) from distance. Austin Dyercame off the bench for 12 points and six rebounds, and Zoller added 10 points and tied his career-high with four blocked shots to go with four steals.

The victory secured a perfect 3-0 week for Azusa Pacific, which improved to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in the Pacific West Conference. Chaminade dropped to 5-9 overall, 3-4 PacWest.

"When the conference schedule first came out, I had this week circled as one that might determine the whole thing," Leslie said. "Considering the teams we played, I'm thrilled to come out of the week with a 3-0 record."

Chaminade was led by Kevin Hu, who scored 26 points on nine-of-12 shooting from the floor, and two of his teammates posted double-doubles as Kuany Kuany finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds while Rohndell Goodwin scored 17 points with 10 boards. The Silverswords were nearly perfect from the free throw line, hitting 23-of-27 (85 percent) for the game.

"I give Chaminade a lot of credit for how well they played, because they were able to penetrate and attack us way too much," Leslie said. "We allowed them to get into the teeth of our defense far too easily, and they got to playing downhill. Outside of tonight, we've been a great defensive team all year, so we'll look at the film and fix this. We need to get back to our defensive fundamentals, and the depth on both sides of the floor will continue to come out as we do that."

Azusa Pacific took its largest lead of the game with 8:08 in the first half, using a 20-7 run capped by a Cardwell three to take a 38-27 lead. Chaminade answered with an identical 20-7 run to reclaim a two-point lead, 47-45, heading into the final minute of the opening half. Joey Schreiber knocked down a three-pointer with 55 seconds left in the half to put the Cougars in front at halftime, 48-47.

Hu scored the first five points of the second half, which Azusa Pacific answered with a 10-0 run to take its largest lead of the second half at 58-52 with 17:01 to play. Hu responded again, this time converting a three-point play before drilling a three-pointer on the next possession to tie the game at 58-58. The only time either team led by more than three points came on a Zoller trey that gave the Cougars a 67-63 advantage with 13:07 left, but it was promptly answered by a Shastri three-pointer just 14 seconds later to set up the extended back-and-forth finish.

Azusa Pacific returns to action next Saturday, Jan. 16, taking on No. 14-ranked California Baptist at Van Dyne Gym in Riverside.