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Azusa Pacific University Athletics

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Saba, Michael1 - 2025
Holly Magnuson
70
Winner Azusa Pacific APU 3-3,0-0 PacWest
69
Cal St. San Marcos CSSM 0-6,0-0 CCAA
Winner
Azusa Pacific APU
3-3,0-0 PacWest
70
Final
69
Cal St. San Marcos CSSM
0-6,0-0 CCAA
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Azusa Pacific APU 28 42 70
Cal St. San Marcos CSSM 26 43 69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Where There's Hope, There's A Way

SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- Charlie Gehler's only basket of the night supplied the hope, and Michael Saba's last basket of the night provided the way, as Azusa Pacific rallied from 4 down in the final 70 seconds to beat Cal State San Marcos, 70-69, in a nonconference game Tuesday night.

Azusa Pacific led nearly the entire night but surrendered its cushion with 7 minutes remaining in the game, and found itself in a chase mode down the stretch. San Marcos assumed a 65-61 lead and maintained the 4-point advantage until the Cougars managed a game-ending 9-4 run to take back the game and claim its third victory in 6 games this season while keeping San Marcos winless in 6 tries.

Gehler, from nearby San Diego and St. Augustine's High, missed his first 3 shots of the game, but when it really mattered, he buried a 3-pointer with 40 seconds left in the game to put the Cougars up 68-67.  San Marcos' Keavie Love made 2 free throws with 25 ticks left to put CSUSM back up at 69-68.  

The rest was up to Saba.   Out of timeout he found himself with a mismatch, took an entry pass from Ethan Speaker, and calmly dropped in the game-winning shot. 

"We tried to take advantage of San Marcos selling out on our ball screens, but they did a good job of cutting off our first option," said APU Head Coach Peter Bond of the Cougars' final play.  "Mike, though, went to the next option, and Ethan got him the ball high, and Ethan kept it high to lay it in." 

Senior guard Maui Sze led the Cougars throughout the night, having a hand in over half of the Cougars' points.  He tallied a season-high 24 points, including 10 in the final 9 minutes, to go along 7 assists.  His fourth 3-pointer of the game gave Azusa Pacific a 53-47 lead with 9:17 left to play.  However, CSUSM answered with its best run of the night, a 12-1 sprint in less than 4 minutes to assume a 59-54 lead. 

A Sze 5-0 run stopped the Cougar bleeding and knotted the game at 59, but APU couldn't get over the hump and assume the lead until Gehler drained his trey, which came off a Sze pass.

"Maui did a great job willing us to this win tonight," said Bond.  "John Beilein, the great former Michigan coach, once said 'freshman want to play, sophomores want to start, juniors want to score, and seniors want to win.' That was Maui tonight.  He wanted to win.  He willed us into some good stuff, making the right reads, and making sure we would win."

Saba, a redshirt sophomore forward out of Phoenix who was making his first collegiate start in 37 games, finished with 13 points, and now has 36 points on 16-for-24 (.667) shooting over the past 3 games. Speaker, who helped Azusa Pacific run out to a 10-2 lead at the start of the game, finished with 14 points.  The Cougars had to play without leading scorer Jordan Hansen (14.2 avg), who was out with an injury suffered in practice earlier in the week.  Micah Boone led Cal State San Marcos with 19 points.

Azusa Pacific, which leads the all-time series with Cal State San Marcos, 7-3, has won 2 of the past 3 meetings, with both victories being 1-point decisions awarded on baskets in the final seconds.

The Cougars take the rest of the week off for Thanksgiving and return to the court next week, opening PacWest play in Northern California by visiting first-year PacWest member Menlo on Thursday (Dec. 5) at 7:30 p.m., followed by a jaunt to Dominican of San Raphael on Saturday (Dec. 7) for a 3:30 p.m. tip-off.
 
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