Cougars Knock Out Cal Poly in Second Round

Troy Leaf pours in another 30 as the Cougars take down Cal Poly Pomona

Troy Leaf pours in another 30 as the Cougars take down Cal Poly Pomona

By Tim Peterson

(Azusa) – This time there was no slow start at the Felix Event Center. Instead Azusa Pacific came charging out of the opening tip off, led 17-8 five minutes in and remained in control the rest of the way in a 77 – 67 win over Cal Poly Pomona Saturday night in the second round of the NCAA Division 2 Tournament.

Troy Leaf tossed in another 30 points to pace the Cougars. The senior guard now has 66 points in two tournament games. Kevin Stafford hit three big threes in the early run and finished with 15. Robert Sandoval added nine.

Andy Jones battles inside in the Cougar victory.

Andy Jones battles inside in the Cougar victory.

This was the first time ever the Cougars have beat Cal Poly Pomona.

After jumping out to the early lead, APU maintained that advantage throughout the half. The Cougars were up 37-28 at he break. Leaf had 17 at the half.

“I think this is the least amount of coaching I had to do in a long time. The players executed the plan perfectly,” said Azusa Pacific head coach Justin Leslie.

The Cougars knew the Broncos would make a push at some point and it came in the second half. After extending the advantage to 14, Cal Poly ripped off seven consecutive points to get within seven at 50-43. But that was as close as the Broncos would get.

APU quickly responded increasing the lead back to double digits and eventually 17 at 69-52 when Stafford buried another trey at the 5:45 mark. It was too much of a hill for Cal Poly to climb.

The Cougars again were exceptional at the line making 18 of 20 – a remarkable 90 percent – to keep the Broncos at a safe distance.

The Cougars shot 45 percent from three point range hitting 11 of 24. Leaf and Stafford combined for nine of the 11.

“They (Cal Poly Pomona) are the type of team that makes you play defense. They recruit to defense, they’re committed to it and they do it every day. The three point shot is one of those things that they make you take,” said Leslie. “So our points were going to come from the three point shot.”

Terrence Drisdom led Cal Poly with 31 points. He was 13 of 23 from the field but just 1-5 from beyond the arc. Quentin Taylor had 14.

Cal Poly ends the season with a record of 24-7. The Cougars improve to 26-5 and will face Cal Baptist for the fourth time this season Monday night at home.

CP 28 39 57

AP 37 40 67

News and Notes: FG % – APU 46.2, CPP – 43.1. 3FG % APU 45.8, CPP – 26.1. FT % – APU – 90.0, CPP- 61.1.

APU out rebounded CPP 36-32. The largest lead for CPP was three with 16:58 left in the first half. Largest lead for APU was 17 with 8:00 left in the game.

Attendance: 1,042.

APU vs. Cal Baptist Monday 3/16 7:00 pm.

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