AZUSA, Calif. — In one of its final games of the season, Azusa Pacific had a hard time finding an answer for Westmont, falling 88-68 behind the Warriors' 49 points in the second half alone.

Azusa Pacific has now dropped both games of the series in Westmont's first year of NCAA eligibility. Prior to this seasons' two losses to the Warriors, the Cougars hd won the last 16 in a row, with their last loss happening in 2006.

Despite Maui Sze's 16-point second-half performance, the Cougars' 18 turnovers proved too much to overcome.

How it Happened: Before the Warriors closed the game with a strong second-half performance, the first half of the game remained close.

Tied 20-20 with 6:32 left in the half, Chris Gayles Jr. scored both freethrows before knocking down a three-pointer to give the Cougars its biggest lead of the game. However, the Warriors found themselves with a 39-31 lead going into halftime behind De'Undrae Perteete's 16 points in the first half alone.

It took a few minutes for the Cougars to get out of a second half slump, giving up a seven point scoring run by the Warriors, which extended their lead to 46-31. Eventually, a layup from Kaleb Taylor put a stop to the bleeding and got the Cougars onto the board in the second half.

While Perteete dominated in the first half, the team and conference's leading scorer Adrian McIntryre found a groove in the second half, scoring 22 points in the final frame.

The Cougars struggled to find an answer for the tandem duo who continued to pour it on, giving the Warriors as much as a 19-point lead with seven minutes to go.

Each time the Cougars seemingly found a spark of momentum, it was extinguished by the Warriors' power duo or one of the team's 17 three-pointers on the night, preventing Azusa Pacific to cut its deficit any less than 13 points.

Maui Sze continued to press on, scoring the last three baskets in a row for the Cougars, however the damage had already been done. 

Eventually, the Warriors clinched the 20-point win on a 7-2 scoring run, finishing the second-half with 49 points while shooting 64% from the field.

By the Numbers: The Cougars struggled to shoot, starting the game 8-for-29 (27.59%) before finishing the game shooting 14-for-24 (58.33%) in the second half. Westmont also forced the Cougars to 18 turnovers, scoring 30 points off those mistakes alone. Additonally, two Westmont players finished with 30+ points, including a career-high performance for freshman De'Undrae Perteete who also made eight of the team's 11 triples. One of the silver linings to the evening was however, the fact that Azusa Pacific went a perfect 14-for-14 from the free-throw line, marking their fourth time shooting 100% this season.

Up Next: Azusa Pacific (12-13, 7-10 in PacWest) will look to bounce back as they host No. 7 Point Loma (20-5, 13-2 in PacWest) next Wednesday. The rematch from January's loss will take place at 7:30pm in the Felix Event Center. Currently sitting tenth in the PacWest standings, the Cougars will then face Biola (ranked second) and Academy of Art (ranked third) in back-to-back games to close out the season.