Elite Eight is Great for APU

The APU Cougars move on to  the Elite Eight after taking the NCAA Div II West Region!

The APU Cougars move on to the Elite Eight after taking the NCAA Div II West Region!

(Azusa) – Azusa Pacific went on a 27-8 run to open the second half and went on to beat Cal Baptist 91-79 Monday night at Felix Event Center. With the victory the Cougars advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Tournament.

APU was up by just two at the break but scored the first nine points of the second half t0 go up 11. The run eventually turned into a 21 point lead as the Cougs blitzed the Lancers with a barrage of threes and break away lay ups. Troy Leaf again led the way with 23 points for Azusa Pacific but Kevin Stafford tossed in 17 including four huge threes. Petar Kutlesic added 14 and Lydell Cardwell buried two consecutive threes off the bench in the first half and finished with eight. APU had 32 bench points overall.

Kevin Stafford continued his hot shooting pouring in 17!

Kevin Stafford continued his hot shooting pouring in 17!

“I’m just so thankful for APU and for having these players to coach. It’s been awesome to have the best seat in the house,” said Cougar head coach Justin Leslie.

CBU actually led early in the contest jumping out to a 10-4 lead. But Azusa Pacific bounced back and behind Cardwell’s two threes went up 15-14.

“To see what Lydell Cardwell did tonight was special. He cares so much about the team,” Leaf said.

The teams traded baskets the rest of the half with APU up 35-33 at halftime.

You got the feeling that somebody was eventually going to go on a run that team turned out to be APU. Stafford’s three increased the lead to 11. Bruce English hit a driving lay-up and the lead was 14. Andy Jones sank a baseline jumper and Leaf canned another three. By the time Robert Sandoval scored a bucket off a drive the margin had ballooned to 21. Nobody on the Cougar side would say at that point it was over but the point was clearly made. The Cougars were headed to Indiana for the Elite Eight.

Cal Baptist was hit with a technical late in the contest for calling a time out they didn’t have. The Lancers did slice the lead down to 13 but Jones threw down a jam with 1:28 left that brought down the house.

Gelaun Wheelwright did his best to keep Cal Baptist in the game finishing with 35 points hitting 12 of 22 from the field and 6 of 12 from beyond the arc. Taj Spencer had 13.

Will Ward and Jones each had seven and Christian Katuala and Sandoval had six.

“You can’t even imagine the work we put in and how much we care about each other,” Leaf said.

Leslie, Leaf and Stafford all agreed on one thing. The one word that best describes the season. “What’s up on the wall?” Leslie asked. “Sacrifice,” Leaf said. Yes Sacrifice they all said.

Leaf was named the MVP of the West Regional. Leaf and Stafford made the All-West Region team.

The Elite Eight will be played in Indiana March 25-28.

“When do we get back to work?” Well I’ll be here at 7:30 tomorrow morning,” Leslie said. “I have a class to teach.”

CB 33  46      79

AP 35  56     91

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