BOX SCORE
LA MIRADA, Calif. --- Demario Butler hit a pair of free throws with five seconds left to give No. 3-ranked Azusa Pacific University a 71-70 win over Biola University Tuesday night in front of a raucous crowd of 2,450 at Chase Gymnasium in La Mirada.
Biola drops to 10-10 on the season and wraps up the first half of GSAC play at 4-6. The Cougars improve to 17-3 and 7-3 in conference.
Butler's free-throws capped an APU 14-2 run to close out the game and gave the Cougars their first lead since a 50-49 advantage with 15:04 left in the contest.
Biola took a 68-57 lead as Solomon Mercado drained a jumper from 12 feet away, but it proved to be one of the final points the Eagles would score on the night. Azusa closed the gap to two points in just under three minutes with a quick 9-0 run before Rocky Hampton hit a running jumper to give Biola a 70-66 lead with 1:21 to go.
Azusa's Scott Zea scored on a jumper from 10 feet to make it 70-68 with 48 seconds left. The Cougars then forced a Biola turnover followed by a foul on Hampton--his fifth foul of the game. However, Zea missed the front end of a one-and-one, but was fouled on the rebound and converted on one of the two ensuing free throw attempts.
Mercado was then fouled after going for a rebound, but missed both free throws and Azusa had one final shot. With the shot clock turned off, it appeared as though senior Kevin Cook made a great play on the perimeter to steal the ball with eight seconds remaining. However, with the ball bouncing around just inside the three point line, Cook was called for a questionable foul which gave Butler a chance at two free throws.
Biola's last second attempt by Mercado fell shot despite a lot of contact under the hoop and Azusa escaped with the victory.
The Eagles were led by the 17 points from Hampton and received 16 points and 10 rebounds from Danny Jones. Mercado added 10 points and three assists.
Azusa had four players in double-figures with Butler scoring 19 points and pulling down a team-high seven rebounds.
Both teams had little trouble scoring in the first half, as Azusa shot over 65 percent and Biola hit 62 percent from the field. The Cougars led by as many as 12 in the first half as the Eagles came out slow. However, Biola cut the lead to five thanks to an 11-4 run spanning four minutes and cut the lead to three at the half on a Matt Emadi layup at the buzzer.
The Eagles will now look for success as the second part of the season begins on Saturday (Jan. 27) with a trip down to San Diego Christian College. The game is set to tip at 7:30 p.m.
