By Tim Peterson
(Azusa) – Charlie Gehler’s shot in the lane missed the mark as the clock expired and Azusa Pacific fell short 59-58 to Concordia Wednesday night at Felix Event Center.
The Cougars were down by eight with just 3:15 left but battled back and had a chance to win with the last possession but were unable to pull it off.
Jaden Henderson nailed two free throws for Concordia with five seconds left to give the Eagles the one-point lead. This came after Michael Saba hit two to put the Cougars up by one.
Gehler then took the ball and charged down the lane as time ran out but under heavy duress he was unable to convert.
Concordia led 24-22 at the half and the game was back and forth in the second half. Kaden Minter and Henderson both had three-point plays for Concordia in the second half and Michael Saba had an and one for Azusa Pacific as the two teams exchanged blows. Saba’s free throw cut the Eagles lead to 50-49.
Minter came right back with another three-point play to put Concordia back up by four. Connor Gleason then sank a big three for the Eagles to make it 56-49 with 4:06 left which looked safe at the time. But the Cougars fought back and had the shot at the end.
Azusa Pacific jumped out to a 9-3 lead and was still up 16-12 with 7:49 left in the first half. Saba and Gehler each had five early points.
The Cougars extended the advantage to 21-14 with just over four minutes left in the first half. But some costly Cougar turnovers led to a 10-1 Concordia run to close out the first half.
The Eagles took a 24-22 lead into halftime. Joseph Locandro had six points for Concordia as did Gleason. Gleason hit a big three to finish the run with 26 seconds left in the half.
Gehler hit two threes and led APU with eight first half points. Saba had five.
Then it was anybody’s game in the second half until Concordia prevailed. Neither team had more than an eight-point lead in contest and there were seven lead changes and six ties.
For Concordia Henderson led the team with 15 points and Gleason had 12. For Azusa Pacific Gehler scored 15 to lead the way and Saba finished with 12. Kaleb Taylor had nine points down low.
With the victory Concordia moved to 11-10 overall and 7-7 in the PacWest Conference. The Cougars fell to 11-12 and 6-9.
CO 24 35 59
AP 22 36 58
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