AZUSA, Calif. -- No. 4 Hawai'i Pacific University saw a lead evaporate in the final two events as No. 5 Azusa Pacific upset the Sharks 272.735 to 271.095 on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association National Championships at the Felix Event Center.
 
The Sharks (6-2) led the Cougars (3-4) until HPU suffered a fall and slips in the final two events.
 
The Sharks started the competition by taking the compulsories 37.90 to 38.65, and expaned their lead in the Acro event with two 9.85 performances to post a 29.25 to 28.50 advantage.
 
The Sharks edged out even more with a win in the third event, the Pyramid, with HPU edging the Cougars 29.50 to 29.30 in the event and went to halftime with a 2.35 advantage, 96.65 to 94.30.
 
The fourth event, the Toss, went to the Sharks as they collected a score of 28.40 to the Cougars 27.90 and building a 2.85 point lead 125.05 to 122.20.
 
That's when things went south for HPU.
 
The Sharks had falls on two runs in the Tumbling, allowing the Cougars to nearly erase their deficit as APU won 55.425 to 53.475.
 
The last routine, the Team Event, saw Azusa post a 95.11 before the Sharks step out for their final performance. But a slip and a fall cost the Sharks who posted a 92.57 to drop from the lead for the only time in the match. The final of 272.735 to 271.095 gave Azusa Pacific a 1.64 point win and avenge two losses to HPU during the regular season.
 
The team competition ended for the Sharks, but HPU will be represented in seven individual event finals on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. HST (10 a.m. PDT) at the Felix Event Center.