LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Some backstory before the recap. In 1998, the Azusa Pacific football team went up to Central Washington in the third week of the season. The Cougars lost handily, 51-17. Azusa Pacific would rebound, winning seven of their next eight games and earning a rematch with the Wildcats in the second round of the playoffs. The Cougars got their revenge, defeating Central Washington 35-28 en route to the 1998 NAIA national championship.
In the Cougars' last meeting on the hardwood with Central Washington–two days after Thanksgiving, the third week of this season–they again lost by a 34-point margin, 81-47. Somewhere, the scriptwriters found that football story and decided a sequel was in order, as Azusa Pacific continued their magical mystery tour all the way into the West Region finals, knocking off Central Washington 82-74 in the second round Saturday night at Cal State Los Angeles.
How It Happened: The Cougar defense played lights out in the opening few minutes, as a Central Washington squad that had scored 110 points in their first-round win Friday missed their first five shots from the field as the Cougars took an early 7-1 lead. The Wildcats would recover in short order and the two teams would be close for most of the first half, with the Wildcats taking their first lead of the contest at 23-20 with 9:05 to play in the first half. That's when Azusa Pacific went on another run, dropping nine unanswered on the 5th-seeded Wildcats, with George Reidy accounting for seven of those points. Central Washington, the GNAC Tournament champions, fought their way back with eight in a row to retake the lead, and the two teams would be nip-and-tuck the rest of the half, with Azusa Pacific enjoying a slim 40-38 lead at halftime.
The game remained close in the second half, featuring seven ties and ten lead changes in all. Bryce Sloan would make a layup with 10:31 remaining that put the Cougars ahead 54-53. That would prove to be the final lead change of the game, though both teams shot the ball quite effectively down the stretch. Ken West led the charge for the Cougars, scoring 12 of his team-high 21 points in the next five minutes, capping that outburst with a critical three pointer after the Wildcats had pulled within one again.
While Central Washington would again get within one at 68-67, the Cougars would hold them off the scoreboard for the next three minutes, while Ethan Speaker and Kaleb Taylor combined for a 7-0 run over that span. Speaker then provided the dagger on the evening, burying a three with less than a minute to play to put the Cougars up 78-70, and Sloan took care of the rest at the free throw line.
By the Numbers: West led the way with 21 points and 7 rebounds. Reidy contributed 15 points, 3 steals, and 3 blocks. Sloan had 15 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 3 steals. Speaker chipped in 15 points and 5 boards. As a team, Azusa Pacific shot a season-best 54.4% from the field in the contest and made 11-14 free throws. They did this while holding Central Washington to 36% from the field in the second half and narrowly winning the rebounding battle, 33-31. The win ties the all-time series in basketball with the Wildcats at three wins apiece. The Cougars, with the victory, are now back to .500 on the season (16-16) for the first time since November 11th, when they beat Cal Poly Pomona to even their record at 1-1.
Up Next: Azusa Pacific has advanced to the West Region final for the first time since 2015, when they hosted and advanced to the Elite Eight in their first year of eligibility. Standing in their way of a return trip to Evansville is the second seed, Cal State San Bernardino. Game time against the Yotes is set for 7:00 p.m. Monday on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles.
