LA MIRADA, Calif.– Azusa Pacific advanced to a 16-7 overall record and 13-3 in conference with another road win outsourcing Biola 71-70 on Saturday night. With the win, the Cougars stay atop the PacWest standings ahead of both BioLa and Point Loma.
Leading the Cougars tonight was Trevon Ary-Turner, who had 15 of his 19 total points come from behind the three-point line. He led the team shooting 7-for-11 from the field and also grabbed two rebounds.
Following Ary-Turner was Hayden Gray who added on 14 of his own points shooting 6-of-8 from the FG range and 2-3 from the charity stripe. He also had three steals against the Eagles.
McKelary Robertson shot a perfect 4-for-4 from the field including three triples to make up 11 of the team's 71 points. Ben Avera led the team in rebounds with seven boards and also three assists. Justin Hemsley followed with six rebounds and eight points.
How it Happened: Within the first six minutes of the game, Biola took an early 4-17 lead before the Cougars started to catch fire. The team then shot three triples in a row from Ken West, Terrence Becvar, and Ary-Turner followed by a layup from Robertson to put the game within four.
Still down by six going into the last minute of the half, Gray hit two free-throws to bring the game to 35-31.
Gray not only had the last points of the last half but also the first points of the second half after scoring a layup to put the Cougars down by only two with 19 minutes of play left.
The teams battled it out and when Biola seemed to be pulling away, Robertson shot a triple to cut Biola's advantage to only four. Within the next few minutes Ary-Turner and Sasha French put together 10 points to give the Cougars their first lead of the game, 52-46.
With their newfound momentum, the team went on a 6-0 run to give the Cougars an eight-point lead with about eight minutes left of the game.
Biola started to chop away at the deficit before Ary-Turner shot his fifth triple of the game to give them a six-point advantage.
With less than a minute to go, Biola was able to bring the game within two again before Becvar made a pair of free throws, scoring the final points for the Cougars. Biola responded with a three-pointer but still fell one point short after Hemsley's clutch offensive rebound off a Gray missed free throw wasted valuable seconds off the clock.
By the Numbers: Azusa Pacific had another bench party as 43 of the team's 71 points came from non-starters. The team altogether shot 28-for-58 (48%) from the FG range and 10-for-24 from behind the rainbow while holding the Eagles to shooting 26-for-60 (43%) and only 6-for-22 from behind the three. The Cougars had 37 rebounds and were able to score 15 second chance points off their 10 offensive rebounds.
Up Next: The Cougars will travel up north to face-off against Academy of Art in Belmont, California on February 21st. Tip off will take place at 1:00pm.
