FRESNO, Calif.-A big run and a big performance from the visitors ruined the Fresno Pacific Sunbirds (2-6 overall, 0-2 PacWest) chances against the Azusa Pacific Cougars in a 76-58 loss Saturday afternoon in the Special Events Center.

"We didn't convert a couple of easy plays and then it snowballed on us. "Fresno Pacific head coach C.J. Haydock said. "Azusa is picked to win the conference for a reason, they have two or three All-American guys for a reason. You just can't flinch against them."

The Sunbirds raced out to an early lead behind 3 three-pointers from Michael Mensah.

But Azusa responded to Fresno Pacific's 15-9 lead with a 31-4 run to close the half. Justin Hemsley led the way for Azusa with 20 points in the first 20 minutes.

The 'Birds smoothed things out a bit in the 2^nd half, but the Cougars kept the hefty advantage.

Darrin Person Jr. got going on the interior, going 4-5 from the field in the second half and finishing with a team high 15 points.

Marten Maide delivered another solid performance, knocking down a couple of threes and ended with 10.

FPU shot 47% from the field in the second half, including 42% from deep.

The Sunbirds also finished the night 18-19 at the free-throw line.

Hemsley finished with a career-high 29 for Azusa Pacific to lead all scorers.

"That team (Azusa) is going to finish Top-25 in the country," Haydock concluded. "If you let it get away from you for a minute, it snowballs like that. We have to handle adversity better. We gained our composure a couple of times in the second half, but that's the growth point."

Fresno Pacific will hit the road for the three games before Christmas as they will see Dominican in their lone game next weekend, traveling to San Rafael on Saturday, December 10^th. They will finish the road trip with Concordia-Irvine on the 17^th and Point Loma on the 19^th before returning home to play Dominican on December 30^th.