AZUSA, Calif. – Hawai'i Pacific University started a four-game Southern California road swing with an 82-48 PacWest Conference loss to No. 7/11 Azusa Pacific on Monday night at the Felix Event Center.
 
The Sharks (9-13, 7-9) never held a lead against the Cougars (19-3, 14-2) as HPU lost its third straight. The PacWest leading Cougars won their 13th straight.
 
The Sharks were led by senior Ronald Blain of McDonough, Ga./Union Grove, senior Daniel Melifonwu of San Diego/Lincoln and junior Tavon Tarpley of McLean, Va./Langley with eight points each. Blain and sophomore Jacob Foy of Newcastle, Australia/St. Francis Xavier both pulled down five rebounds.
 
Azusa got 16 points from Brennan Rymer, while Selom Mawugbe scored 14 points with seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
 
The Sharks shot 34 percent from the floor (21-of-62), including 4-of-24 (17 percent) from the 3-point arc. HPU hit just 2-of-6 (33 percent) from the foul line. APU connected on 50 percent from the field (32-of-64), including 12-of-37 (32 percent) from the arc. The Cougars made 6-of-8 (75 percent) from the charity stripe. Azusa outrebounded HPU 45-to-32 and won the turnover battle 10-to-13.
 
After Mawugbe put the Cougars up 2-0 in the first minute, junior Chidoze Ndu of Lagos, Nigeria/Sunrise Christian Academy (Kan.) followed with a layup to tie the game.  Mawugbe made a layup 14 seconds later to start a 10-0 run and the Sharks never led again. The Cougars continued to push the envelope to take a 17-point lead into halftime 41-24.
 
The Sharks fell behind at the start of the second half and the PacWest leading Cougars rolled, opening a 30-point lead midway through the half and extending it to 36 in the final minute. A Melifonwu layup with three seconds left made it 82-48 at the final buzzer.
 
The Sharks have to push forward quickly as they visit Concordia Irvine on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. HST (7:30 p.m. PST) at CU Arena.