AZUSA, Calif. -- Times may have changed, but Azusa Pacific's matchup with Biola in a critical January men's basketball matchup sparked a rivalry revival for a crowd of 2,088 at the Felix Event Center Saturday night, as the Cougars secured a season sweep in the Cornerstone Cup rivalry series with an 84-72 victory over the Eagles.
A five-year hiatus as conference rivals ended last year with Biola joining Azusa Pacific in NCAA Division II and the Pacific West Conference, and both teams won on their home floor in last year's season split. This year, Azusa Pacific got the upper hand with a 73-59 road win in La Mirada in December before securing the season sweep with another double-digit win Saturday night.
Senior point guard Darien McClain scored a game-high 22 points with 6 assists, and his dunk off a Noah Bundrant steal in the closing seconds of the game provided the exclamation point on the rivalry win. Senior guard Will Ferris added 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, leading the Cougars on a 19-8 run over the final 8:31 of the first half to take a commanding 43-26 halftime lead.
The closest Biola got the rest of the way was eight points, but that came with less than 20 seconds to play and was quickly answered by a pair of Ferris free throws and McClain's dunk to seal the 12-point win.
With the victory, Azusa Pacific improves to 11-8 overall and 8-4 in the PacWest, while Biola drops to 9-8 overall, 5-6 PacWest.
Cornerstone Cup Update: The Cornerstone Cup rivalry series presented by West Coast Sand & Gravel tracks head-to-head rivalry competition between Azusa Pacific and Biola throughout the year, and Azusa Pacific wrapped up the fall sports season with a 30-20 lead. With a season sweep over Biola in both men's and women's basketball, Azusa Pacific gained 10 more points for each sport to the overall trophy standings to take a 50-20 lead in the yearlong rivalry competition between the athletic programs of each school.
The next Cornerstone Cup matchup between the schools comes in less than a month, when the women's swimming and diving teams for Azusa Pacific and Biola compete at the Pacific Collegiate Swim Conference (PCSC) Championships in La Mirada, Feb. 13-16. The higher-finishing team in the PCSC Championship meet will claim another 10 points in the overall season trophy standings. The schools also meet in six other spring sports: baseball, softball, men's tennis, women's tennis, men's track and field, and women's track and field.
How It Happened: After a slow start at the outset for both teams, Gerritt Beetstra hit a three-pointer with 15:19 remaining in the first half to spark an 8-0 run which gave Azusa Pacific the lead for good. A Jonathan Davis three with 11:21 left pushed the lead into double digits (20-9), but Biola got back within six at 24-18 after a pair of Levi Auble free throws with 8:45 left in the half. Ferris drilled a three-pointer to answer, sparking the Cougars to a 19-8 run to close out the half.
Azusa Pacific led by as many as 18 in the first seven minutes of the second half, but an Auble three with 7:58 to play pulled the Eagles back within nine, 64-55. Two minutes later, after Alex Talma hit a jumper that kept Biola within nine at 67-58, Ferris answered with a quick three which pushed the lead back into double figures until the final minute of the contest.
Turning Point: After Biola used an 11-3 run to cut the Cougars' 18-point margin in half to nine points, 64-55, with 7:58 to play, McClain answered with a three-pointer on the ensuing run to half the Eagles' momentum. Over the final six minutes, Azusa Pacific kept Biola from scoring any unanswered baskets, providing either an immediate score in response or defensive stops the rest of the way.
Azusa Pacific Standouts: McClain scored 15 of his game-high 22 points after halftime, and he went 8-of-13 from the field including 3-for-6 on three-pointers in his third 20-point game of the season. Ferris added 17 points, his third consecutive game in double figures, while Selom Mawugbe and Jake Spurgeon contributed 11 points each. Mawugbe was the Cougars' leading rebounder, pulling down eight boards, and Jonathan Davis, Tyson Kanseyo, and Ben Taufahema all came off the bench to score six points each.
Biola Standouts: Alex Talma scored 19 points and tied Mawugbe for the game-high in rebounds with eight. Auble scored 13 points off the bench, while Trevor Treinen and Alex Wright added 12 points each for the Eagles.
Quotable: "This was a fun game, although it was very odd for the Biola series, because usually baskets are really hard to come by. We were prepared for that, but we worked hard this week on ways we could attack them, and we got on a roll and made it fun for the crowd with a lot of baskets throughout the game. I'm very happy for the seniors to be able to sweep Biola; that's always something that means a lot. In a rivalry game, you want to compete well and represent yourself and your school, and I thought they did that tonight." -- Head coach Justin Leslie
"After splitting with them last year, it was really important to make sure we put our foot down in this game. This week in practice, we were really focused on the little things, and getting out ahead early was important for us to be able to keep the lead down the stretch. Having a good crowd in the stands really gave us a lift from the start." -- senior guard Darien McClain
"Going out with a sweep in a rivalry is huge, and the atmosphere was awesome tonight. I can't wait to see how the rivalry continues to develop in the PacWest. I missed a couple of open threes early, but Darien did a great job getting by them, and I knew he'd continue to get me open looks. We get great scouting reports on our opponents, and we were able to key on the right guys early and make them rush a little bit as we got that early lead." -- senior guard Will Ferris
By The Numbers: Azusa Pacific shot 59 percent (31-for-53) from the field, including a 61 percent (17-for-28) clip in the opening half… The Cougars also finished 46 percent (12-for-26) on three-pointers… The teams combined for just 17 turnovers in the game… Biola finished with a 13-6 edge in points off turnovers, and Azusa Pacific generated a 36-32 edge in points in the paint… The Cougars produced a 36-28 rebounding edge.
What's Next: Azusa Pacific is home again on Thursday, Jan. 24, hosting Fresno Pacific at 7:30 p.m. before hitting the road for its next four PacWest games. The four-game road swing begins with three games in five days in Hawai'i and is followed by a visit to Fresno Pacific before the Cougars finish the PacWest schedule with a five-game homestand.
