OAKLAND, Calif. – The Cougars clinched a share of the PacWest title on Saturday night following a win at Dominican, but it was no secret to anyone in the locker room postgame that they were not satisfied unless the championship belonged to Azusa Pacific alone. Fast forward about 48 hours later, and the Cougars were celebrating their first outright conference championship following an 87-62 win over Holy Names on Monday night. The victory is the Cougars 19^th consecutive win this season.

"Following our win at Dominican, I knew that no one was interested in being co-champions," said head coach Peter Bond, "from Saturday night until today, our guys were focused and locked in, preparing for the opportunity to take the title outright tonight."

To all who watched Azusa Pacific on Monday night, the focus was clearly there as the Cougars were dialed in. With about five and a half minutes remaining in the first half, the Cougars held a 28-22 lead. Azusa Pacific had enough of playing it close, as it finished out the first half on a 14-2 run to take a commanding 42-24 halftime lead.

In the second half, the Cougars gave the Hawks little hope of getting back into the game, as Holy Names' smallest deficit was 18 points, and Azusa Pacific took a lead as large as 29 points down the stretch.

"Not only did we want to wrap up the conference tonight, but our guys wanted to leave little doubt," said Coach Bond, "we played with an intensity from the end of the first half through the final buzzer that reflected the way the team wanted to clinch."

Azusa Pacific used a balanced attack to earn the win, with 10 different players scoring, including three in double-digits and eight who scored seven or more points. Terrence Becvar led the team in scoring, finishing with 15 points on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond-the-arc and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe. Brennan Rymer and Selom Mawugbe also reach double figures, with each player tallying 13 points. Mawugbe also had 11 rebounds in the game, posting his 16^th double-double of the season. Rymer added added six assists and six rebounds, and also had two steals.

The Cougars' outright title marks the first time since 2005-06 that the program has not shared a conference championship. Since joining the NCAA and the PacWest, Azusa Pacific has won two PacWest titles, but the Cougars were labeled as "co-champions" on both occassions.

"This team has a respect, admiration, and appreciation for those who have come before them in the program," said Coach Bond, "and that is a huge motivating factor for them. They want to continue to build upon the foundation that those before them laid, and they also want to leave their own legacy by accomplishing things that many great teams and players did not."

With the regular season nearing the end, the Cougars will turn their attention towards post-season play. Azusa Pacific has locked up the number-one seed for the PacWest Tournament, which will be hosted in Azusa during the weekend of March 5-7. The Cougars will have a bye in the first round of the tournament and await an opponent in the semifinals. On Friday, Azusa Pacific will take on the winner of the number-five and number-four seed. The Cougars close out the regular season on Saturday, February 29 at 7:30 pm, as the Cougars travel down to Concordia.