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Azusa Pacific University Athletics

The Online Home of the Azusa Pacific Cougars

Men's Basketball Joe Reinsch

Eyes On The Prize

Box Score

IRVINE, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific set up a Pacific West Conference tournament championship matchup with California Baptist by posting a convincing 92-75 victory over BYU-Hawaii Friday evening.

The win avenged the Cougars' worst defeat of the year, a 23-point margin in the opening game of a three-game road trip to Hawai'i from which Azusa Pacific rallied to close out the regular season with back-to-back wins to claim a second consecutive PacWest regular-season title. It also made the Cougars perfect in 10 consecutive revenge games dating back over the past three seasons.

Azusa Pacific (22-7) advances to its first PacWest Tournament title game, where it will take on California Baptist after sweeping the regular-season series with the Lancers.

All-PacWest sophomore forward Petar Kutlesic led the way with game-highs of 21 points and 13 rebounds, notching his eight of the season and fifth in the past eight games. Senior guardBruce English matched Kutlesic in scoring with 21 points, hitting four-of-seven three-pointers on the offensive end while serving as part of the defensive effort to limit Cory Lange to just 12 points the day after he blistered Hawai'i Pacific for 44 points.

Lange, who scored 26 points 10 days ago to lead BYU-Hawaii to its 84-61 win over the Cougars in Laie, Hawai'i, was limited to 12 points on four-of-13 shooting from the field. Azusa Pacific led for all but 93 seconds of the game, taking control after a Lange jumper gave the Seasiders a 20-17 lead with 11:55 remaining in the first half. English tied it up on the ensuing possession with his first three-pointer of the game, sparking a 13-1 run that gave the Cougars the lead for good. The lead grew to 11, 46-35, on another English three-pointer with 2:39 to play in the first half, and Azusa Pacific took a 53-44 edge into halftime.

After BYU-Hawaii pulled within six points, 63-57, with 13:01 left in the game, senior guardLyDell Cardwell drilled back-to-back three-pointers and followed with another two-point jumper for an 8-0 run that pushed the lead back into double figures. The closest the Seasiders got the rest of the way was 11 points before the Cougars pulled away and made it a 20-point game twice in the final three minutes.

Freshman point guard Connor Peterson dished out a game-high six assists, and he tied his season-high in scoring with 18 points for his sixth consecutive game scoring in double figures. Azusa Pacific committed a season-low seven turnovers, helping the Cougars post a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers.

Ian Harward scored a team-high 16 points for BYU-Hawaii, which also got 14 points from Scott Friel and 13 points from Justin Yamzon to go with Lange's 12-point effort.

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Players Mentioned

Connor Peterson

#3 Connor Peterson

G
6' 2"
Freshman
Bruce English

#10 Bruce English

G
6' 1"
Senior
Petar Kutlesic

#33 Petar Kutlesic

F
6' 9"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Connor Peterson

#3 Connor Peterson

6' 2"
Freshman
G
Bruce English

#10 Bruce English

6' 1"
Senior
G
Petar Kutlesic

#33 Petar Kutlesic

6' 9"
Sophomore
F