FRESNO, Calif. – The #8 ranked Fresno Pacific men's basketball team downed #21 Azusa Pacific 94-83 Tuesday evening in FPU's Special Event Center, improving to 15-1 in the GSAC and 22-4 overall. This was the second win this season for the Sunbirds against a historically strong APU program.
“Azusa is a great program and anytime you are fortunate enough to beat them twice in a season is something special,” acknowledged FPU assistant coach Chris Wright. “We know we have to get keep getting better, but we are proud of our guys and are definitely going to enjoy this one.”
The Cougars did score the first basket of the game, but that was the only lead APU would have throughout the remainder of the contest. FPU took back control of the game at 4-3 at the 18:38 mark off junior guard James Lewis' free throw, and would not trail again.
Fresno Pacific ended the first half with a 44-33 lead, and continued to put the Cougars under pressure in the second half, relying on solid free-throw shooting down the stretch to see this one out for the 11 point win.
The Sunbirds were led by Lewis who shot 7-12 from the field, 3-6 from three-point distance, and 6-7 from the line for a total of 23 points on the night.
Junior forward Todd Brown also had a solid game going 3-4 from the field and was a perfect 6-6 from the line on his way to scoring 17 and snagging 8 rebounds.
In addition, this week's GSAC Player of the Week, FPU senior forward/guard Marcus West, contributed with a 15 point performance while teammate Jordan Wild netted 12 points in the contest.
For the game, FPU shot 56.6% (10-53) from the field, 42.9% (9-21) from three-point distance, and 78.1% (22-25) from the free-throw line.
The nationally ranked Sunbirds will next travel to face San Diego Christian Saturday February 21st in GSAC play. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:30PM.
