HONOLULU, Hawaii– Azusa Pacific won their seventh consecutive game after a close battle with Chaminade to collect the 81-76 win. The Cougars now sit at a 13-6 overall record and 10-2 record in the PacWest after the win on Monday evening. 

Azusa Pacific remains on top of Conference standings after dominating all three Hawaii schools this past week.
The team's leading scorer, Justin Hemsley, scored 20 points after shooting a near perfect game going 8-for-10 from the FG range, 2-for-2 from behind the three, and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

Terrence Becvar, was able to tie his career high, 17 points solely off 5 triples and 2 free throws. 

Joining Hemsley and Becvar in the double digits club was Ken West with 15 points of his own going 6-6 from the charity stripe and grabbed a team high 6 rebounds. 
Hayden Gray had a crucial all around game scoring 11 points, grabbing 4 rebounds, collecting 3 steals, and even had a block. 

How it Happened: The Cougars started with the first points of the game off a layup by Allan McBride and throughout most of the first half both teams just went back and forth without either team getting over a 6 point advantage.

With 15:14 left of the second half, Chaminade scored a triple to put the team up 10-16. Becvar was able to match it with a triple of his own followed by another triple from Trevon Ary-Turner to tie the game up. 

Chaminade started to get away with a small lead after back to back dunks but were met by a layup from West and dunk from Hemsley to bring the game within 1 in favor of the Swords. 
With four minutes left in the half, it was Becvar's three pointers that kept the Cougars in the game followed by a triple of his own by Ben Avera to give the team their first lead since the beginning of the game, 33-30. 

The Swords took back the lead after a triple but Hemsley responded with one of his own, making that the team's eighth three pointer of the game so far with 1:44 left of the half. 

Hemsley scored another layup followed by two free throws from West to give the team a three point advantage before the Swords scored for the last time in the half. With 0:05 on the clock, Gray collected his second steal to set up Hemsley with a dunk at the very last second to give them the 46-43 lead.

With 14 points going into the second half, Hemsley scored the first points of the second half with a pull up jumper.

Chaminade counters back with a few crucial possessions to tie the game back up. Down by three, West scored a triple followed by another from Becvar to give the Cougars a three point lead with 15:10 left. 

Turning Point: A few minutes later, down by two, Sasha French had a layup followed by a dunk to take the lead again. Becvar counters with his fifth triple of the game to put the Cougars up by five with 8:26 left. 

The teams continue to fight it out without letting the other get more than a four point advantage. Up by two, Gray had back to back layups to give the team a 79-73 lead. 

With 14 seconds left on the clock, Becvar had the chance to shoot free throws making both to tie and surpass his season-high scoring record resulting in a 81-76 win. 

By the Numbers: Azusa Pacific shot 30-for-60 (50%) from the field goal range and 10-for-12 (83%) from the free throw line. The Cougars were also able to outscore the Swords from shooting 11-for-26 against Chaminade's 8-for-18 from the three point line.

The Cougars shot 8 of the 11 total three pointers in the first half of the game then followed up by going 6-for-6 from the charity stripe in the second half. 

The team was also able to force 19 turnovers from Chaminade and were able to score 23 points off the Swords' errors. 27 of the team's 81 points came from the bench and 34 points came from within the paint. They totaled 27 rebounds and 18 assists as well. 

Up Next: The Cougars will return home to play on their home court on Friday, February 11th to face off against Dominican in the Felix Event Center. Tip off will take place at 7:30 pm.