Friday, March 13, 2015

AZUSA, Calif. - Troy Leaf scored eight of his game-high 36 points during a 14-0 run midway through the second half as top-seed Azusa Pacific went on to defeat Western Oregon 75-67 at the Felix Event Center to complete the opening round of the NCAA West Regional Friday.

Western Oregon, which scored the first 11 points of the game, earned its final lead at 49-47 on a layup by Julian Nichols with 10:24 left, but Leaf tied the contest 22 seconds later on a layup.  Leaf then converted a three-point play to give the Cougars a 52-49 lead with 8:55 remaining.

Two baskets by Jared Zoller, a two-pointer by Kevin Stafford and a three-pointer by Leaf gave APU a 61-49 lead with 5:28 remaining.

Western Oregon trailed by 13 at 65-52 with 2:29 left before making six of six three-point shots in the final two minutes.  Back-to-back treys by Jordan Wiley cut the Wolf deficit to seven.    Another three-pointer by Lewis Thomas pulled WOU to within six points at 67-61 with 49 seconds remaining.

The Wolves climbed to within four points at 71-67 on yet another three by Lewis Thomas with 26 seconds left.  Azusa, however, then scored the game's final four points to move into Saturday's second semifinal at 7:30 p.m.

Leaf's 36 points came on 10 of 18 field goals and 13 of 13 free throws.  He also had a game-high five assists.

The only other Azusa player in double figures was Robert Sandoval, who had 11 points.

Andy Avgi led Western Oregon with 19 points and a game-high eight rebounds.  The Wolves also got 14 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals from Julian Nichols.  Lewis Thomas finished with 10 points.

Western Oregon, which was playing in its first NCAA West Regional tournament, finished its season with a record of 23-7.  APU improves to 25-5.