Connor Peterson hit the game winning free throws
By Tim Peterson
(Glendora) – Connor Peterson hit two free throws with :02 of a second left to give Azusa Pacific an 83-82 win over BYU Hawaii Friday night at Felix Event Center.
It appeared the Cougars were going to fall behind by three when Justin Park stole a pass and went the length of the floor for the Seasiders only to miss the layup. The Cougars got the rebound with six seconds left and the ball ended up in the hands of Peterson who drove the lane, threw up a shot and was fouled. Peterson calmly sank the first and after a BYU Hawaii time out he bounced in the game winner.
APU led by 11 at 43-32 at the half but BYU Hawaii went on a 10-0 run turning a 50-43 deficit teams a 53-50 advantage. The teams went back and forth the rest of the way. Bruce English hit a couple of big threes for the Cougs. The second one gave Azusa Pacific an 80-77 lead with 2:08 left in the contest.
Bruce English nailed two big threes down the stretch
English finished with 14 points and three from downtown. But he wasn’t the only one getting fat on the land of plenty. Lydell Cardwell led Azusa Pacific with 15 with all of his points coming from beyond the arc. Cardwell was 5 of 8 from three point territory, with nine points coming in the first half. The Cougars had five players in double figures overall as Petar Kutlesic and Joey Schreiber had 12 and Peterson finished with 10. The two free throws Peterson were his only two of the night.
The Seasiders also had five in double figures. Scott Friel had 20, Ian Harward had 15, Nelson Tanner 14 Justin Yamzon 13, and Cory Lange finished with 10. Yamzon hit a big three with 27 seconds left to give BYU Hawaii the 82-81 lead.
The game was as close as the stats. APU shot 47 percent from the floor while the Seasiders were at 46.
BYU Hawaii outshot the APU at the free throw line 75 percent to 60 percent but Peterson hit the biggest two of the night.
Azusa Pacific improved to 16-6 overall and 10-4 in the PacWest while the Seasiders dropped to 12-9 and 9-7.
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