AZUSA, Calif. – The Cougars made things difficult for themselves, but pulled out a gritty 83-78 victory over Chaminade Monday evening inside the Felix Event Center. Ken West scored a season-high 26 points to help the home side overcome a 13-point deficit.
How It Happened: The game was a tale of two halves, as Chaminade jumped out to an 11-3 lead and held onto their lead for the entire half, shooting 59% from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Every time the Cougars tried to cut into the lead, the Silverswords had an answer, building their advantage to 27-15 with eight minutes left in the first half. To that point, West, the Cougars' leading scorer, had been held without a point. West finally got onto the scoreboard with a layup at the 7:40 mark, followed by a three. Chaminade shook it off, stretching their lead to its largest of the evening at 43-30 with 1:46 remaining before intermission. Hayden Gray would score five points in the closing stretch of the half, allowing the Cougars to cut the lead back to single digits at intermission.
The teams traded baskets for a long stretch at the beginning of the second half, such that Chaminade still had a 10-point lead at 58-48 with 13 minutes to play. Azusa Pacific started chipping away again, this time getting the lead down to six before finally going on a run to even the score at 63-all after consecutive layups by George Reidy and Gray with 7:30 remaining. The Cougars took their first lead since 2-0 on a three-point play by West. Starting with the previous layup, West and Gray combined to score 16 consecutive points for the Cougars, forming the lion's share of a 21-8 run capped by a Nate Kleppe three with 2:21 remaining that put the home team up by seven. The team made enough free throws down the stretch to complete the season sweep of the Silverswords.
By the Numbers: After allowing Chaminade to shoot 59% in the first half, the Cougars held their opponents to just 32% in the second half. West finished with 26 points and 7 rebounds; Gray had 21 points, 5 assists and 3 steals; and Kleppe added 13 points, 10 boards, and 2 blocks. The three combined for 37 of the Cougars' 46 points after intermission. Both of Gray's 20-point games this season have come against Chaminade. Azusa Pacific narrowly won the rebounding battle, 38-33, and turned 11 Silversword turnovers into 16 points. The Cougars have won five in a row against Chaminade dating back to February of 2020.
Up Next: The Cougars (15-6, 10-4 PacWest) will continue their home stand against Academy of Art on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The game can be livestreamed HERE.
