BOBBI SALCIDO | staff writer
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courtesy of Ken Williams
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| Senior center DAVE BURGESS dunks the ball during a 81-63 victory over Fresno Pacific in the GSAC Tournament final. |
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Sound defense and efficient scoring led the No. 18 Azusa Pacific Cougars to an 81-63 victory over the No. 8 Fresno Pacific Sunbirds in the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) Tournament Championship game on Tuesday night in the Felix Event Center.
Limiting the Sunbirds to 63 points and 23-for-60 shooting from the field, the Cougars avoided a 3-game season sweep to Fresno Pacific after losing by scores of 98-91 on Jan. 13 and 94-83 on Feb. 17.
“Man, we defended nicely,” said Head Coach Justin Leslie. “That’s where we have to hang our hat. That’s what the guys bought into. If we defend like that we can be pretty good.”
APU’s offense was led by junior guard Mike Danielian who tallied a season-high 21 points off the bench in just 17 minutes of floor time. A perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc in the first half, Danielian added three more three pointers and three free throws to his total in the second, including a four point play. In just under two minutes, his three consecutive three pointers single handily accounted for the Cougar’s 9-0 run in the first half that gave Azusa Pacific its lead for good.
“I had two good open looks, one where I came off a screen and another where my man fell down, and I hit my first 2 shots,” said Danielian. “That just got me going and luckily my shot kept falling tonight.”
Danielian’s six racked treys contributed to the team’s 14 three pointers and .500 shooting percentage from downtown.
“We moved the ball around and good looks presented themselves. We made open shots,” said Leslie. “We have not been a good 3-point shooting team this year. It simply hasn’t been a strength of ours. Our strength tonight was that we took good ones.”
After five ties and seven lead changes in the first 14 minutes, it took a collaborative effort from the whole team to gain momentum and finish the Sunbirds off.
As usual, the Cougars were ‘championed’ on, along with Danielian, by their two All-GSAC players. Junior guard Dominique Johnson recorded 17 points while senior center David Burgess registered 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Senior forward Kimarley Williams and sophomore guard Mike Caffese each finished the night with nine points. Williams also grabbed seven boards as Caffese achieved a game-high nine assists, including a one handed, no look pass to Danielian for his first three.
Also off the bench, sophomore guard Ashton Roberts scored seven points and tallied four assists while being a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line in his limited minutes.
“Everyone is playing together, we’re playing well,” said Danielian. “Everyone is passing the ball. We’re all clicking together and playing good basketball.”
Though forced to sit on the visitor’s bench and wear their black, away uniforms, the Cougars did get to play on their own court and in front of their home crowd. Though, the home court privilege appeared to be more of an inspiration than an advantage.
“These guys really rally around defending our home court and improving,” noted Leslie. “We’ve done that.”
“We don’t want to lose at home. That is motivation enough,” said Danielian.
Azusa Pacific played host to the Men’s Basketball GSAC Postseason Tourney for the third time in the tournament’s 16-year history. Over two nights, APU welcomed three other GSAC teams, as the number of participating teams dwindled from eight down to Tuesday’s final two.
In recent years, the tournament was held at Hope International, but due to a scheduling conflict, the conference needed to choose an alternative host site. Coaches and athletic directors discussed the options and decided last fall the tournament return to the Felix Event Center.
“Because of our facility and the staff Azusa Pacific has, it was just easiest to come here,” said Associate Athletics Director and Sports Information Director Gary Pine.
Accommodations were made by the staff to oblige visiting teams and fans, including enhanced locker rooms, increased crowd control and improved press relations.
“The intensity of the games adds to the atmosphere. Teams are here to win a championship and each one has different needs,” said Pine. “We have to step things up, so we just try to make everything a little bit nicer.”
Prior to Tuesday night’s meeting, each team had been previously informed they were already in the NAIA National Tournament. Officially, however, APU, as the tournament champion, joins Fresno Pacific, the regular season champion, as the GSAC’s two automatic bids.
“The GSAC will be well represented. Certainly, it is well respected,” said GSAC commissioner Cliff Hamlow. “I’m sure our teams will be competitive.”
Currently, the Cougars are on a seven game winning streak and improve to an overall record of 24-9.
“Way to be hot at the right time,” expressed Leslie.
With their night GSAC Tournament title, Azusa Pacific hopes to continue their success onto the NAIA National Championship Tournament in Kansas City, Mo. beginning next Wednesday, Mar. 18.
“This game gives us some boost so that we can do some damage in Kansas City,” declared Danielian.
