AZUSA, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University grabbed an early lead, but Azusa Pacific used a 15-0 run midway through the opening half to gain an advantage it wouldn't lose on the way to a 72-56 PacWest Conference win on Saturday at the Felix Event Center.
 
The Sharks (7-16, 4-14) had a two-game win streak stopped, while the Cougars (16-9, 13-5) posted its second straight win.
 
HPU grabbed an early lead of a 3-pointer from Jonathan Janssen of Noosa Heads, Australia/Mountain State , a layup from Darnell Bettis of Los Angeles/University and an emphatic dunk from Daniel Melifonwu of San Diego/Lincoln for a 9-7 advantage at the 15:17 mark. But a 3-pointer from Gerritt Beestra put APU back on top, the Cougars rattled off the 15-0 run and HPU never recovered.
 
Janssen led the Sharks with 13 points to go with seven rebounds. Ronald Blain, a junior from McDonough, Ga./Union Grove, just missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds with a block. Sophomore Tavon Tarpley of McLain, Va./Langley added eight points.
 
APU was paced by Darien McClain with 13 points and seven assists, while Jake Spurgeon added 12 points with eight rebounds and Selom Mawugbe posted 10 points with seven boards and four steals. Beetstra added nine points with two blocks.
 
The Sharks shot 37 percent from the field (22-of-60), including 5-of-18 (28 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU hit 7-of-9 (78 percent) from the foul line. Azusa shot 41 percent (24-of-58) from the floor, with 9-of-34 (27 percent) from the arc. The Cougars connected on 15-of-23 (65 percent) from the charity stripe. APU outrebounded HPU 44-34, and turned the ball over 10 times to the Sharks 12.
 
HPU can't dwell long on the loss as the contest opened a four-game final road trip of the season. The Sharks visit Concordia Irvine on Monday. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. HST (7:30 PST) at CU Arena.