By Tim Peterson
(Glendora) – Azusa Pacific outscored Chaminade 46-32 in the second half to overcome a nine-nine-point halftime deficit and beat the Silverswords 83-78 Monday night at Felix Events Center.
Ken West was huge in the second half for the Cougars scoring 16 points including three three pointers. Down 58-48 with just over 12 minutes remaining West hit a three to get Azusa Pacific within seven. less than two minutes later he buried anther trey to cut Chaminade’s lead to 59-54.
A steal and a lay-up by Hayden Gray got the Cougars even at 63 with 7:52 left. West scored underneath and was fouled with 6:54 remaining. His three-point play the old fashioned way gave APU a 66-65 lead.
However West wasn’t done yet. His bucket put the Cougars up 68-67 with 5:49 left and he hit another long distance bomb a minute later to make it 71-69.
Gray again drove for two, West scored again with just under four minutes left and when Nate Kleppe shredded the nets for three at the 2:20 mark the Cougs were in command 78-71.
There were a few anxious seconds when Azusa Pacific tuned the ball over up by four with 27 ticks left but Raazhel Watkins missed a three and the Cougars secured the rebound with 17 seconds left and were able to salt it away.
Chaminade had a 46-37 lead at the half thanks to 15 points from Braden Olsen and a shooting percentage of 59 percent. The Cougars shot just 41 percent in the first half. Gray had 11 and West 10.
They were still down 10 nearly eight minutes into the second half when West and company took over.
West finished with 26 points to lead the Cougars attack. He was 10 of 17 from the field including 5 of 9 from beyond the arc. Gray had 21 and Kleppe scored 13 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. APU finished shooting 46 percent from the floor. The Cougars outrebounded Chaminade 38-33.
For the Silverswords Olsen led the team with 26 points. Watkins had 12 and Jalen Brattain and Chris Bready each added 10.
With the victory Azusa Pacific improved to 15-6 overall and 10-4 in the PacWest Conference. Chaminade fell to 10-13 and 5-10.
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