Cougars Have the Inside Track on Point Loma

Petar Kutlesic slams home two of his game high 24

Petar Kutlesic slams home two of his game high 24

By Tim Peterson

(Glendora) – Azusa Pacific went inside as Petar Kutlesic and Austin Dyer combined for 43 points to lead Azusa Pacific to a 77-72 win over Point Loma Saturday night at Felix Event Center. 

Kutlesic, the 6’9″ center from Serbia, was a monster down low all night as he also pulled down 16 rebounds and went 11 for 14 from the floor. Tied at 51 in the second half, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run capped by a three point play by Kutlesic for  58-51 advantage with 9:00 remaining.

Lydell Cardwell then knocked down a three for a 61-53 lead and a minute later Bruce English buried one from long distance to put the Cougars up 64-56 with 7:40 left.

But the Sea Lions wouldn’t go away and cut the Cougar lead to 75-72 late in the game. Cardwell calmly sank a pair of free throws with five seconds left to ice it.

Dyer had 10 points in the first half and was 9 of 10 from the floor and teamed up with Kutlesic to give the Cougars a one-two punch. Kutlesic also had 10 in the first half.

Austin Dyer was the left to Kutlesic's right with 19 big points

Austin Dyer was the left to Kutlesic’s right with 19 big points

Mike Planeta and Josh Rodriguez kept Point Loma in the game scoring 18 and 17 points respectively. Planeta was 4 for 7 from three point range and Rodriguez hit three from beyond the arc.

Point Loma, which was depleted by injury and only played six players, eventually wore down in the end. The Sea Lions had four players in double figures with Zach Burnham adding 14 and Aaron Roedl scoring 12.

Cardwell finished with 7 for the Cougars while Joey Schreiber had 9 and English 8.

Azusa Pacific improved to 17-6 overall (11-4 in the PacWest) while Point Loma fell to 11-10, 6-8.

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