SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Despite a strong showing in the first half, Azusa Pacific struggled to get big defensive stops in the second half resulting in a 74-81 loss against Point Loma on Saturday night. The Cougars now move to a 7-8 Conference record while posting an 8-14 overall record.
Ken West led the team with 17 points and eight rebounds. George Reidy assisted him with 16 points and eight rebounds and Ethan Speaker contributed 12 points to round out double-digit scoring for the Cougars.
How It Happened: Azusa Pacific took charge of the game first as Ethan Speaker scored an early jumper to kick off the first half. Although Point Loma fired back with a triple, Ken West responded with a layup followed by a three-pointer from Speaker to give the Cougars a 7-3 lead.
Azusa Pacific maintained that lead for the next five minutes until the Sea Lions knotted it up at 13-13 with another triple. The Cougars were able to retake their lead with a jumper from Trevan Martin and a layup from Kaleb Taylor to put them up 17-13 with 12 minutes to go.
Just two and a half minutes later, Point Loma tied it up again and then gained a lead with back-to-back jumpers. The game continued to go back and forth for the next few minutes as both teams would exchange chances to tie up the game yet neither team could run away with more than a two-point lead.
Finally, with 5:29 left in the game, down 24-26, West knocked down a triple to regain the lead followed by back-to-back three-pointers from Speaker and Reidy and two free throws from Michael Saba to give the Cougars a nine-point lead.
Both teams exchanged triples and a few free throws but ultimately, it was Azusa Pacific who would maintain their lead and end the half with a 43-35 edge over Point Loma.
To start the second half, both teams would go back and forth scoring layups before the Sea Lions attempted to pull away scoring a jumper followed by a triple to cut their deficit to three. A few minutes later, Point Loma's Coby Barnes scored five points in a row to regain a 49-50 lead with 14 minutes left in the game.
Over the next eight minutes, both teams exchanged leads without either one maintaining over a four-point lead.
Turning Point: With 5:48 left on the clock, Ken West had a triple to give the Cougars a 68-65 lead. Yet, the team was unable to capitalize on the score as the Sea Lions responded with a nine-point run to take a 74-64 lead with 2:30 left to go.
Although Azusa Pacific was able to string together a few more baskets, Point Loma maintained their lead sealing it with five critical free throws in the final minute.
By the Numbers: While the Cougars shot 14-for-27 (51.85%) from the field goal range in the first half, they struggled to find the same success in the second half shooting a mere 12-for-30 (40%) in the second half resulting in 45.6% shooting across the whole game. Meanwhile, the Sea Lions shot 14-for-25 (56%) in the second half ending with 26-for-51 (51%) shooting across the game.
While both teams finished with similar stats in rebounding (31 for the Sea Lions and 32 for the Cougars) and in turnovers (seven for the Cougars and eight for the Sea Lions), one key difference that set the teams apart was their shooting from the free-throw line. Azusa Pacific was 15-for-26 (57%) across the game while going 5-for-12 (41%) in the second half while Point Loma shot 20-for-27 (74%) from the line over the game as a whole.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific will go on the road again this time just an hour and a half north to Santa Barbara to face Westmont in hopes of getting a second win over the Warriors this season. The game on Wednesday is scheduled to have a 7:30 p.m. tip-off.
