FRESNO, Calif. – After 26 days without a game, the Fresno Pacific University men's basketball hosted Azusa Pacific at the Special Events Center on Saturday afternoon, knocking off the Cougars 71-70 in a thriller, thanks to a game-tying 3-pointer from Jelani Watson-Gayle, a game-saving block from Darrin Person Jr. and a game-winning free throw from Nate Kendricks.
 
QUOTABLE
"It was a blessing to be on the court today. The last two years have taught us that none of these games are guaranteed. The opportunity to get out there and compete is not something we take lightly. It was an incredibly close game, super competitive. I'm proud of the grit of our guys coming off the long layoff. Our guys did a really good job of understanding time and score down the stretch. Our guys executed a special for Watson-Gayle, and even with that execution, it took a miraculous shot that he made. On defense, Person Jr. made a reckless effort to play for a huge game-saving block. Then Kendricks makes a veteran play by seeing what the defense was cheating towards, driving the lane, and getting fouled. He made the first free-throw and executed the missed free throw really well." – head coach C.J. Haydock.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Cougars opened play with a quick 11-2 lead in the first four minutes of the contest.
• The Sunbirds went on a 10-2 run to cut the Azusa lead to just one point with just under 13 minutes left in the half.
• Spencer Heimerdinger sparked the large run with a layup, followed by a 3-pointer from Kendricks.
• After a layup by the Cougars, FPU answered with a free throw from Darrin Person and a layup from Watson-Gayle.
• Kendricks made a second layup to cut the lead to one point, and after an Azusa, 3-pointer to make it a 16-12 game, Garrett Cook answered with a 3-pointer of his own to cut the deficit back to one point.
• The Sunbirds took their first lead of the game with 11:39 remaining in the half when Watson-Gayle knocked one down from beyond the arc to make it 18-16 FPU.
• The Blue and Orange led by as many as six in the first half after a Sean Nealon-Lino 3-pointer, but the two teams would trade buckets from then on until the Cougars went on a run to take a 35-29 lead with 3:45 remaining.
• The Sunbirds would close out the half on an 11-5 run to take the game into halftime tied at 40.
• FPU opened the second half with a 3-pointer from Ryan Abbott to take a 43-40 lead.
• After the two teams traded buckets, Azusa took its first lead of the second half after a four-point play, followed by a floater to put the Cougars up 52-49 with 13:34 left in the contest.
• A Watson-Gayle layup followed by another layup from A.J. Kirby put the Sunbirds back on top with 12:45 to go in the game.
• The two teams battled back and forth after the under-12 timeout to a 60-60 tie heading into the under-8 timeout.
• The two teams went back and forth, trading leads, and the Cougars led 70-67 before Watson-Gayle knocked down a 3-pointer to tie with 33 seconds remaining.
• On Azusa's ensuing possession, the Cougars had a look with nine seconds to go, but a block by Person that last touched the Cougars before going out-of-bounds gave the Sunbirds the ball.
• Kendricks took the ball to the hole and was fouled on a layup with 0.5 seconds left. He knocked down the first free throw to give FPU a 71-70 lead, and then purposefully missed the second free throw to run out the clock and give the Sunbirds the win. 

STATS FROM THE GAME

• Watson-Gayle led all scorers in the contest with 20 points and went 3-of-6 from behind the arc.
• Kendricks followed with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
• Person Jr. finished with nine points, three rebounds, one steal, and the game-saving block.
• The Sunbirds went 9-for-15 from deep, shooting 60 percent in the game.

UP NEXT

• The Blue and Orange will host Concordia on Monday at 4:30 p.m. 

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