Lydell Cardwell and the Cougars fall to Cal Baptist in the PacWest Conference Tournament Final
By Tim Peterson
(Irvine, CA) – Gelaun Wheelwright and Michael Smith each scored 26 points to lead Cal Baptist to a 101-64 rout of Azusa Pacific Saturday at the University of Concordia to win the PacWest Tournament Championship.
The Lancers effectively put the game away in the first half when they went on a 23-2 run that turned a one point game into a 36-14 lead. Wheelwright hit three three pointers during the run including consecutive treys and the Cougars could never get back in it.
Connor Peterson was harassed by the Lancer defense all afternoon.
Cal Baptist still led by 21 at the half at 51-30 with Wheelwright having scored 16.
Wheelwright was 9 of 16 from the floor including 6 of 10 from the land of plenty. Smith was 10 of 16 from the field hitting the Cougars with a devastating one-two punch. Smith took home Tournament MVP for his efforts.
Alexander Birketoft also added 14 for CBU.
Connor Peterson did what he could for Azusa Pacific as he continued to battle and finished with 12 points. Lydell Cardwell hit a couple from behind the arc and also contributed 12. Bruce English was in double figures as well with 11. Petar Kutlesic, the Cougars big man in the middle had a tough night and scored just two points.
Cal Baptist improved to 27-6 overall with the win while APU fell to 22-8. Both teams will now wait to see where they land in the Regional Tournament.
CBU 51 50 101
APU 30 34 64
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