AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific rallied from a double-digit second-half deficit and won going away in its Pacific West Conference opener, surging past Academy of Art for a 74-57 victory Thursday night at the Felix Event Center.
After trailing by eight points at halftime, 33-25, the Cougars followed their lowest-scoring half of the season with their highest, posting a 49-point second half to win by a comfortable 17-point margin. Darien McClain scored 17 of his game-high 22 points after halftime, and Corey Langerveld notched his first 20-point game of the year to help lead Azusa Pacific to the win.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 5-4 overall and start PacWest Conference play with a victory for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
How It Happened: Academy of Art expanded a 33-25 halftime lead with consecutive three-pointers in the first two minutes of the second half for a 39-25 edge, but Azusa Pacific outscored the Urban Knights 49-18 the rest of the way. The Cougars posted a 32-10 second-half rebounding advantage, and McClain led a trio of Cougars who scored double-digits in the second half alone.
Langerveld's three-pointer with 16:52 remaining in the game snapped Academy of Art's 14-2 run which spanned the end of the first half and the first few minutes of the second, pulling the Cougars within 11 at 39-28. Less than two minutes later with ArtU still holding an 11-point edge at 41-30, a Tyson Kanseyo layup sparked a 16-2 Azusa Pacific run, turning the game around by giving the Cougars a 46-43 edge after another Langerveld three with 10:23 to play.
Academy of Art regained the lead one more time, taking a 48-47 lead on a Cobe Williams three-pointer, but it lasted just 19 seconds ad Langerveld hit a jumper which sparked an 18-4 burst that extended the lead into double digits for good.
Turning Point: On Academy of Art's third possession of the second half, Selom Mawugbe blocked back-to-back shot attempts in the paint. Even though Academy of Art made another three-pointer to take a 14-point lead on its next trip down the floor, the Urban Knights only scored six points in the paint the entire second half as the Cougars mounted their comeback. Mawugbe added two more blocks later in the second half to finish with four for the game.
Azusa Pacific Standouts: McClain led the way with 22 points, his second-best scoring output of the season, and Langerveld added a season-high 20-point performance in which he hit 8-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-6 three-pointers. Mandrell Worthy added 14 points off the bench, and he was one of 6 Cougars who grabbed at least 5 rebounds in the game.
Petar Kutlesic led the effort on the boards with 10 rebounds, and Mawugbe, Langerveld, and Kanseyo tracked down 7 rebounds each. Mawugbe helped lead the defensive effort with his 4 second-half blocks and 3 steals, and McClain recorded game-highs of 4 steals and 3 assists while hitting a perfect 10-for-10 free throws.
Academy of Art Standouts: Kendall Brown notched a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double to lead the Urban Knights, and he was joined in double figures by Cobe Williams' team-high 14-point effort. Williams knocked down 4-of-7 three-point attempts, including all three of his long-range attempts in the second half.
By The Numbers: Azusa Pacific's commanding 49-29 rebounding margin was even wider in the second half (32-10)… The Cougars made up for a 24 percent (6-for-25) three-point shooting clip by hitting 88 percent (28-of-32) from the free throw line… Azusa Pacific led Academy of Art in points in the paint (22-18), points off turnovers (18-12), second-chance points (11-5), fast break points (12-2), and bench scoring (22-15)… The Urban Knights were held to a 27 percent (9-for-33) shooting performance in the second half, and ArtU shot a higher percentage on three-pointers (.348) than its overall shooting percentage (.333) on the night.
What's Next: Azusa Pacific's schedule contains only Pacific West Conference games the rest of the way. Up next for the Cougars is a Saturday afternoon matchup against Point Loma, which will enter Saturday's contest with a 6-3 record. Azusa Pacific Athletics will give away limited-edition brick-colored ZU t-shirts to the first 500 Azusa Pacific students to arrive for Saturday's PacWest basketball doubleheader, which kicks off with a 1 p.m. women's game and is followed by the men's game at 3 p.m.
Quotable: "Academy of Art always plays a hard, scrappy style of basketball, and we just weren't ready to match their intensity in the first half. They had more heart, toughness, and effort than we did early on, and that was the only adjustment I asked my team to make at halftime.
-- Azusa Pacific Head Coach Justin Leslie
"We still haven't hit our stride offensively, but we're a good defensive team. As we develop more consistency on the defensive end, our offense will continue to grow. We have a lot of players who can score in a variety of ways, and we just have to find ways to limit our turnovers and work for efficient shots. Even though we didn't shoot that well from the perimeter, it was still a pretty efficient offensive game for us because of our ability to get to the foul line."
-- Azusa Pacific Head Coach Justin Leslie
"We came out pretty slow, but we just dug our heels in and got after it. I haven't seen us play with that type of energy since our opening weekend, so we just fed off that energy as the game went on."
-- Senior Corey Langerveld
