FRESNO, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific hoped to get one step closer to securing its place in the Pacific West Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon at Fresno Pacific, but a wild finish in a 77-73 road defeat snapped the Cougars' four-game winning streak and put their postseason hopes very much in peril.
With the loss, Azusa Pacific now sits exactly at .500 with a 14-14 overall record and a 9-9 PacWest mark, clinging to a one-game lead it must maintain over Dominican, which owns the head-to-head tiebreaker, in the upcoming final week of the regular season. The Cougars wrap up the PacWest schedule with road games at Notre Dame de Namur and Academy of Art next week, while Dominican is home against Fresno Pacific and Hawai'i Hilo.
A game featuring 13 lead changes and 15 ties provided a dramatic finish with extreme momentum swings for both teams. With Azusa Pacific trailing 69-67, Joey Schreiber sank a go-ahead three-pointer with 2:34 to play for the Cougars' final lead of the game. On the next possession, Fresno Pacific converted one-of-two free throws to tie the game at 70-70, and neither team scored again until Spencer Krannitz drained a three-pointer with 46 seconds left to give FPU a 73-70 lead.
After the Cougars turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, Will Ferris came up with a steal to set up Connor Peterson for a game-tying three with 14 seconds left. R.J. Horn, a 20 percent (13-for-64) three-point shooter on the season entering Saturday's game, provided the improbable long-range splash with three seconds left, and Azusa Pacific's long inbounds pass was intercepted by Mike Crawley, who sank one-of-two free throws to put the game away.
Corey Langerveld led all scorers with a career-high 22 points, hitting eight-of-10 shots from the field including five-of-six on three-pointers while producing his fourth 20-point effort in the past seven games. Petar Kutlesic added 17 points and nine rebounds, and Schreiber scored 13 points while tying Kutlesic for the team-high in rebounds with nine. Selom Mawugbe came off the bench and delivered a game-high four blocks to go with a team-high three steals in 22 minutes of action.
Krannitz led Fresno Pacific in scoring with 19 points, while Horn and Oliver Herting added 16 points each. The Sunbirds hit six-of-12 second-half three-pointers including Horn's game-winner.