HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University couldn't stop a late first half surge that gave Azusa Pacific a lead they wouldn't relinquish in a 70-52 PacWest Conference win on Wednesday night at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
The Sharks (5-13, 2-11) fell for the second straight contest, while the Cougars (14-8, 11-4) chalked up their fifth straight win.
APU used a 12-3 run in the last 4:30 of the first half to take the lead and coupled it with an 11-0 run early in the second half to put away Sharks.
Junior big man
Daniel Melifonwu of San Diego/Lincoln led the Sharks with eight points and 10 rebounds to go with a blocked shot. Junior
Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove also had eight points, as did sophomore
David Rowlands of Dayton, Ohio/Moorpark.
APU was led by Will Ferris with 21 points and three steals, with Selom Mawugbe posting a double-double with 12 points, 13 rebounds and adding five blocked shots.
HPU was held to just 31 percent shooting from the floor (16-of-51) and 3-point arc (6-of-19), while converting 14-of-18 free throws (78 percent). APU hit 42 percent from the field (28-of-67), including 8-of-27 (30 percent) from the arc. The Cougars were 6-of-8 (75 percent) from the charity stripe. Azusa outrebounded HPU 43-32 and suffered 13 turnovers to the Sharks 16.
HPU and APU battled ferociously the first 15 minutes of the game, with nine lead changes and five ties. APU built a six-point 22-16 lead with 8:24 left in the first half on a 3-pointer by Jake Spurgeon. HPU responded with a 9-0 run started with a Blain layup and capped with a layup from sophomore
Lorenze Gordon-Haynes of Columbus, Ohio/Africentric to lead 25-22 with 5:26 in the first half.
A free throw by Spurgeon followed by a Ferris triple, steal and layup robbed the Sharks of the lead and started the 12-3 run to give APU a 35-29 lead at the half.
The teams swapped buckets to start the second half, with HPU trailing by six after senior
Darnell Bettis of Los Angeles/University buried a jumper with 18:21 to play.
The Cougars answered with a Ferris 3-pointer and steal that led to a jumper from Noah Bundrant to start the 11-0 run. A Rowland jumper snapped the scoreless run before the Cougars added five more points for a 16-2 run for a 20-point lead.
The Sharks battled the rugged Azusa defense with a 14-4 run over the next six minutes to pull within 10 at 59-49 with 6:20 to play. APU's Ben Taufahema ended the HPU momentum swing with a 3-pointer and started a 7-0 Cougar run that put APU back in firm hold of the contest. Melifonwu provided the last three HPU points as Azusa finished with the 70-52 win.
The Sharks, who started a five-game homestand on Wednesday, have a short time to bounce back. HPU hosts Biola on Saturday afternoon in PacWest play. Tipoff is slated for 3 p.m. after the women's game between the schools at the Blaisdell.
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