BELMONT, Calif. -- Led by a historic three-point shooting performance from junior point guard Darien McClain, Azusa Pacific rolled to a 90-57 win over Notre Dame de Namur to claim sole possession of first place in the Pacific West Conference standings heading into an 11-day break from conference play.
The Cougars improved to 8-5 overall and 4-1 in PacWest play, and Dixie State edged Concordia in Irvine Monday night to deliver a slim half-game lead to Azusa Pacific in the conference standings. Dixie State and California Baptist both hold identical PacWest records of 3-1.
"We always play a tough non-conference schedule because that's what prepares you best for conference play," Azusa Pacific head coach Justin Leslie said. "What's most pleasing to me is the team identity we talked about earlier this year is starting to become more consistent and more fruitful. It hasn't been one big thing (that's changed), but lots of little things are starting to add up. We've started to be more efficient on the offensive side, and defensively, we're doing a good job changing defenses and keeping teams off-balance. The players are all starting to absorb how to make the most out of our game plans, and our general growth has us going in the right direction."
McClain hit 7-of-7 three-pointers, tying the PacWest record for most three-pointers made without a miss in a game while becoming the first Cougar ever to hit more than five three-pointers in a game without a miss. He also notched his second consecutive 30-point game, leading all scorers with exactly 30, while Will Ferris tied his career-high with 20 points on 6-of-8 three-point shooting.
As a team, the Cougars hit a season-high 58 percent (15-for-26) from three-point range and never trailed, starting with a Ferris trey on the opening possession of the contest. Azusa Pacific built up a 20-point halftime lead and never looked back, extending the lead to 30 points with seven minutes left in the game before cruising to the 33-point win, which was its largest margin of victory in a PacWest game since a 35-point win at Holy Names in the 2014 regular-season finale.
How It Happened: Ferris drilled a three-pointer on the game's opening possession, and Azusa Pacific led for all but 17 seconds the rest of the game with an outstanding combination of offensive accuracy and defensive pressure. The Cougars forced NDNU into 20 turnovers and held the Argonauts to 23 first-half points, which tied for the second-lowest first-half total allowed by Azusa Pacific this year.
Turning Point: Although Azusa Pacific never trailed, an early six-point lead evaporated when Notre Dame de Namur tied the game at 14-14 with R.J. Louis' three-point play with 11:37 remaining in the first half. A Selom Mawugbe dunk on the ensuing possession set the tone for the rest of the half, sparking a 29-9 run over the final 11:20, which Mawugbe punctuated with another dunk just before time expired to give the Cougars a 43-23 halftime lead. The 6-foot-9 forward had another dunk in the opening minute of the second half, and Azusa Pacific maintained a lead of at least 14 points the rest of the game.
Azusa Pacific Standouts: After scoring 33 points Saturday at Holy Names, McClain notched his second consecutive 30-point game by hitting 8-of-9 from the field (7 three-pointers) and 7-of-8 from the free throw line. He becomes the first Cougar to notch back-to-back 30-point games since Petar Kutlesic achieved the same feat almost exactly one year ago (Dec. 16).
Ferris tied his career-high with 20 points, hitting 7-of-10 from the field (6-of-8 three-pointers) in just 16 minutes of play. Corey Langerveld added 10 points, and Tyson Kanseyo came off the bench to grab a game-high 7 rebounds in 11 minutes to lead the Cougars to a 35-26 edge on the boards. Mawugbe finished with 9 points and 6 rebounds.
Notre Dame de Namur Standouts: Louis was the only NDNU player to score in double figures, finishing with 13 points while John Cornett and Omar Lo each finished with 9 points. Lo was also the Argonauts' rebounding leader with 7, and Cornett was close behind with 6 boards.
Quotable: "We've known we had this in us since the opening weekend of the season. We can be a good defensive team, and we've shown throughout the season that we can guard, but it's hard to stay excited about defense when you're not making shots. I never had any doubt that our shooters would get it going at some point. Through the struggles, Darien has been working hard to learn to pick his spots and find out what good looks are for him. He's given us a different dimension shooting the ball like that lately, because teams have tried to pack it in the paint and force us to shoot. This type of performance gives us a shot of energy and confidence moving forward." -- Head Coach Justin Leslie
By The Numbers: Azusa Pacific held NDNU to 23 first-half points, marking the eighth half in which the Cougars have held their opponent to less than 30 points… Its 43-point first half was Azusa Pacific's second-highest scoring opening half performance this year… The Cougars shot 54 percent (30-for-56) overall, including a 58 percent (15-for-26) clip on three-pointers, and 75 percent (15-for-20) on free throws… The overall shooting percentage was Azusa Pacific's second-best of the season, while the three-point percentage was a season-best... After reaching double figures in just four of the first eight games of the season, McClain found his scoring touch when the schedule rolled into PacWest play, notching five straight double-digit scoring games including back-to-back 30-point performances.
What's Next: Azusa Pacific has an 11-day layoff between games, returning to action with a Dec. 30 visit to Concordia. After the calendar turns to 2018, the Cougars host consecutive home games against Fresno Pacific (Jan. 3) and Biola (Jan. 6).
