Troy Leaf glides in for two of his 24.
(Glendora) – Azusa Pacific led for exactly one minute and 34 seconds of the contest and it proved to be enough in a 72-69 win over Dixie State Saturday at Felix Event Center.
Troy Leaf sparked a second half rally that saw the Cougars overcome an eight point deficit in the last eight minutes. Leaf finished with 24 points to lead all scorers and twice was fouled from the three point line and proceeded to bury all three shots. Leaf was a perfect 10 for 10 from the line overall and he had 18 points in the second half.
The Cougars were still down 66-60 but sc0red eight consecutive p0ints to take a two point lead. Kevin Stafford hit a big three and three free throws by Leaf gave the Cougars their first lead at 68-66. Azusa Pacific outscored Dixie State 12-3 to finish off the game.
Jared Zoller slams home two in the Cougars win over Dixie State.
Stafford was 4 for 6 from three point territory and finished with 15 points. Petar Kutlesic added 10 and pulled down eight rebounds.
Dixie State was up by 12 in the first half and still led by four at the half. Zach Robbins had ten first half points and finished with 20 to lead the Red Storm. Mark Ogden scored 15 and Dequan Thompson added 13. Dixie State made its living at the free throw line shooting 15 for 15 in the first half and 31 0f 33 overall. The Red Storm shot ten more free throws than the Cougars.
Both teams shot 40 percent from the field but Dixie State shot 93 percent from the line compared to 73 percent for APU. The Cougars were only 13 of 36 from the field in the first half (36 percent) which contributed to their slow start. They rallied in the second half due to hot shooting at a 47 percent clip.
APU outrebounded Dixie 35-30.
With the victory Azusa Pacific improved to 17-2 overall (10-1 in the PacWest) while the Red Storm fell to 11-6 (8-3). Next up for the Cougars is a trip to Hawaii January 29- February 2.
DSU 36 33 69
APU 32 40 72
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