MidValleySports.Com

Petar Kutlesic made his presence felt offensively and defensivley.

By Tim Peterson

(Azusa) – Azusa Pacific was down 7-0 right of the gate but bounced back to take the lead 15-13 on a Will Ward basket with 11:20 left in the first half and never trailed again. The Cougars proceeded to roll to a 99-77 win over Fresno Pacific Saturday at the Felix Event Center to clinch at least a share of the PacWest Conference title. It’s their first conference championship since 2006.

With the victory APU also earned a bye in the first round of the conference tournament which begins Thursday in Irvine. Azusa Pacific players and head coach Justin Leslie celebrated by cutting down the nets after the victory.

Robert Sandoval gets a deuce on Senior Day for APU.

After grabbing the lead the Kevin Stafford hit a big three as Cougars went on a 9-0 run to go up 26-17. Bruce English later knocked down a three to give Azusa Pacific an 11 point margin. Fresno Pacific made a push just before the end of the half to trim the Azusa Pacific advantage to 44-38 at the break.

Fresno Pacific got to within four at 59-55 with 13:00 left in the game but the Cougars then went on a blitz to put it on ice. Troy Leaf had two straight lay-ups and a steal to highlight a 12-0 run that increased the lead to 16.

It eventually turned into 21-7 as Lydell Cardwell buried a three to make it 93-72 with 2:23 left. Game, set, match.

Leaf led the way with 21 points shooting 8-17 from the field. Ward was a monster inside with 17 going 8-12, Petar Kutlesic had 14 and Robert Sandoval added 11.

The Cougars shot 53 percent from the field overall.

Trevon Clayton took scoring honors for Fresno Pacific with 19. Madison Higgins scored 14 while Gabe Solarin tossed in 13. The Sunbirds shot 45 percent from the floor.

APU finished 24-4 overall and 17-3 in the PacWest. The Cougars now attempt to top it off with a tourney title. Fresno Pacific ended the regular season at 9-19, 5-15.