AZUSA, Calif. — Azusa Pacific opened PacWest action with an 87-48 victory over Holy Names Thursday night to improve its win streak to three. The Cougars were led by Justin Hemsley, who had a team-high 19 points, and Ken West who provided his first double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds. West brought the crowd to its feet with the highlight of the game as he skied for a putback dunk during a 21-0 run in the first half. Among others, McKelary Robertson shined off the bench with 10 points and a season-high seven assists.

How it Happened: Holy Names started the game on a 7-2 run, holding onto its lead for almost the first eight minutes of the first half.

Turning Point: Trailing 19-16 with 12:05 remaining in the opening half, Azusa Pacific turned the tides going on a 21-0 run over the course of the next five minutes. After a pair of free throws by Robertson got the Cougars within a point of the lead, West hit a transition three-pointer to give Azusa Pacific its first lead 21-19. On the next offensive possession, Hemsley grabbed an offensive board put it back up, got the bucket and a foul. Another quick Holy Names possession helped the Cougars get out in transition once again, this time Robertson stopped on a dime and sunk a triple to put his team up 27-19. Another Hemsley layup and a Hayden Gray jumper brought the lead to 11 before West's highlight reel putback dunk sent the crowd into a frenzy. On the other end, another miss by the Hawks saw West grab the rebound and find Gray who went coast-to-coast for the lay-in. Trevon Ary-Turner would then cap off the huge run in style with a layup of his own to give Azusa Pacific a 37-19 lead.

Up 45-30 at the break, the Cougars sparked another run less than a minute after halftime. Nate Kleppe's four-point play launched a 17-2 run. Hemsley got a steal for an easy breakaway dunk before West was set up twice by Robertson with a layup and also got his third triple of the game to go, putting Azusa Pacific ahead 56-34. Sasha French would cap off the run with a free throw and a layup to give the Cougars a 28 point lead with 13 minutes to play.

Leading 70-42, Hemsley scored on three of the next four Cougar possessions which included a pair of layups and his lone three-pointer of the game to up his tally to 19 points in the game. That all but did it as Azusa Pacific earned its first PacWest win, 87-48.

By the Numbers: It's the largest margin of victory for Azusa Pacific since December 1, 2018 when the Cougars defeated Notre Dame de Namur 87-38. Azusa Pacific held Holy Names to just 33.9% (19-56) from the field and 13.3% from beyond-the-arc (2-15), the lowest numbers for any Cougar opponent this season. On top of that, Azusa Pacific shot season-highs from the field, 50.8% (32-63), and from downtown, 44.8% (13-29) which was a product of a season-high 19 assists that produced a season-high 87 points. The Cougars biggest advantages were in points off of turnovers (27-9) and second chance points as well (18-8). Azusa Pacific led for 31:30 of this game which was also a season-high.

Up Next: The conference schedule continues for the Cougars, with Fresno Pacific visiting the Felix Event Center on Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. contest. Azusa Pacific will enter the matchup on Saturday afternoon with a seven-game winning streak against the Sunbirds. To watch the game for free, visit the following link: WATCH

POSTGAME INTERVIEW - JUSTIN HEMSLEY & KEN WEST


WEST'S PUTBACK JAM: