SEATTLE, Wash. – The name's Bond, Peter Bond. The newest era of Cougar basketball has begun, as the sixth head coach in program history opened his tenure with a 66-62 win over Cal Poly Pomona on Friday night in Seattle at the SODEXO Classic.
 
The win was a gritty one for the Cougars, as it came down to the wire and required a clutch three-point basket by transfer Brennan Rymer with 14 seconds and a huge block by Selom Mawugbe, the preseason PacWest Player of the Year, to preserve the lead and eventual win with five seconds remaining.
 
For most of the second half, Azusa Pacific held the lead. Jake Spurgeon knocked down a triple to open the half and tie the game at 31-31, and Noah Bundrant scored a layup to put the Cougars up 33-31. Following Bundrant's layup, Azusa Pacific possessed the lead for the next 15 minutes of action, pushing it to as much as 11 points (44-33, 15:09).
 
With a little under six minutes remaining in the contest, the Cougars held an eight point lead at 56-48, but the Broncos fought back into the game over the next several minutes of action, as they went on a 14-5 run to grab a 62-61 lead with 29 seconds remaining in the contest. Following the Cal Poly Pomona basket to take the lead, Coach Bond and the Cougars took a timeout. Out of the timeout, the Cougars ran offense for about 13 seconds, eventually putting the ball in Rymer's hand beyond the three-point line at the top of the arc. Rymer found some space and let it fly, finding the bottom of the net and giving the Cougars a 64-62 lead with 14 ticks on the clock.
 
Following a timeout by the Broncos, Azusa Pacific needed one final defensive stop. Cal Poly Pomona put the game in Will Christmas' hands, a 15.4 points per game scorer last season, and Christmas drove the lane with under 10 seconds remaining and put up a shot, which Mawugbe blocked. The ball eventual found Spurgeon on the rebound, who was subsequently fouled. Spurgeon knocked down two free-throws to put the game away and deliver Coach Bond his first win as a head coach.
 
"Tonight was about our players making big time plays when we needed them to," said Coach Bond, "this was a hard fought win against a really good team in our region."
 
As a team, the Cougars shot 39% from the floor (23-for-59), and 34% from deep (9-for-26). The Cougars finished with 39 rebounds, while the Broncos had 34. Each team finished with 14 turnovers.
 
Rymer led the Cougars in scoring with 19 points. He was joined in double figures by Spurgeon, who had 15 points, and Mawugbe finished with 11. Mawugbe recorded a double-double in the contest as he finished with 10 rebounds, while also adding four blocks and a shared team-high of four assists. Another huge contributor for the Cougars was Noah Bundrant. Bundrant finished with six points and eight rebounds, while also being the key for the Cougars defensively, "Noah was phenomenal tonight," said Coach Bond, "we put him on Christmas, who is a top-four player in the West region, and Noah did a great job on him." Christmas finished with eight points on 4-for-12 shooting in the game.
 
Azusa Pacific is right back at it tomorrow at the SODEXO Classic, as the Cougars take on Chico State at 5:00 p.m. Coach Bond views this as another important game for his team, "we have to come out again and be ready to play against another good team from our region… we enjoyed the win but I already know our guys are focused and looking toward Chico State."