SAN RAFAEL, Calif - Azusa Pacific closed out its Bay Area trip with a 78-65 win over host Dominican.

The Cougars were led by a 23-point performance from Ken West, which makes this his 10th game of the season thus far that he has posted double digit points. He was joined by Hayden Gray, Nate Kleppe and George Reidy who also posted double digit points contributing to the win. 

How it Happened: Azusa Pacific opened the game on a 6-0 scoring run by way of two layups from West and Kleppe followed by a jumper from Justin Hemsley. At the 15 minute mark in the first half, Dominican came back to tie the game at 6 a-piece, but the Cougars responded to take a 11-6 advantage over the Penguins. 

Azusa Pacific found themselves with a 14-11 lead after a three-pointer from Reidy, and the Cougars continued to hold a lead over Dominican finding themselves with an 18-16 advantage after the second media timeout. With six minutes remaining in the first half of play, West was good from beyond-the-arc to give Azusa Pacific a 21-16 lead. Dominican found themselves within one with the game at 24-23 in favor of the Cougars, and a good three-pointer from the Penguins gave them a 26-24 lead. 

After an Azusa Pacific timeout with three minutes left, freshman, Kaleb Taylor had a dunk to tie it for the Cougars at 26-26. Dominican found themselves with a late lead (31-26), and the Cougars headed into the second half trailing 30-33. 

Dominican opened the second half with a four point run, but Reidy nailed a three to keep the Cougars close. 

Turning Point: With 16 minutes left in the game, a block by Kleppe led to a scoring opportunity for the Cougars. West took the ball to the net for a layup to tie the game at 37 a-piece. A free throw followed by two shots from downtown led West to collect nine consecutive points and allowed Azusa Pacific to jump out to a 44-38 lead. McKelary Robertson then knocked one down from beyond-the-arc while Gray picked up five points of his own to grow the Cougars lead. A layup and free throw from Allan McBride allowed Azusa Pacific to have a 10 point lead over the Penguins (55-45).

Dominican slowly started a potential comeback with the Cougars finding themselves only four points ahead with three minutes left. But, Azusa Pacific would not surrender as their strong offensive showing allowed them to stay ahead, shooting 10-for-11 from the charity stripe in the final minutes. The game would come to a close by a final score of 78-65 favoring the Cougars.

By the Numbers: Nine different Cougars found the basket tonight, with six players knocking down at least one from beyond-the-arc. As a team, Azusa Pacific shot 43.3%  from the field and 89.5% from the free throw line. Defensively, Azusa Pacific collected 38 rebounds, with Kleppe picking up nine and Hemsley tabbing eight. Kleppe also had three blocks with Taylor having two, and Gray had three steals himself. 

Up Next: Azusa Pacific will return to the Felix Event Center on January 5th when the Cougars face off against Fresno Pacific at 7:30 p.m.