AZUSA, Calif. – The NCAA Men’s Basketball West Regional final will be an all-PacWest affair, as Azusa Pacific and California Baptist both won their semifinal matchups Saturday night. The next chapter of the APU-CBU rivalry will produce the first regional championship for one program. The championship game is set for Monday night at 7 p.m.
 
Cal Baptist 78 – Seattle Pacific 77
Box Score / CBU Press Conference
 
Trevone Williams made a layup at the buzzer to complete a remarkable comeback win for No. 2 Cal Baptist over No. 7 Seattle Pacific, 78-77. Despite trailing nearly the entire game, CBU erased an 11-point deficit in the final six minutes to advance to its first regional final.
 
Gelaun Wheelwright scored 27 points, making four three-pointers and 9-of-9 free throws. Chris Brown had 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. The duo combined for 19 of CBU’s final 26 points. The Lancers led for only 2:35 in the entire game.
 
Seattle Pacific used a 12-4 run to build its first double-digit lead, 50-40, at 10:44. From the point on, the Falcons seemed to answer every Lancer score with one of their own. After the final media timeout, the Lancers made their move. Wheelwright nailed a three to cap a 12-3 run that pulled CBU within one, 73-72, with 1:32 remaining. After the teams traded scores, SPU missed two free throws with 18 seconds left, giving CBU a chance to win on the final possession. Ryan Berg put up a three that sailed cleanly over the rim, but Williams was there on the backside to grab the uncontested rebound and put it in before the buzzer for the win.
 
Azusa Pacific 77 – Cal Poly Pomona 67
Box Score / APU Press Conference
 
No. 1 Azusa Pacific beat No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona, 77-67. Including a regular-season matchup, APU produced two of the three best scoring outputs against the nation’s best defense this season. Troy Leaf scored 30 points and Kevin Stafford added 15. The duo made nine of APU’s 11 three-pointers.
 
The APU strategy was evident from the start – attacked the CPP zone from the outside. Ten of the Cougars’ first 15 shots were from beyond the arc, and they made seven of them to build a 28-15 lead. Leaf and Stafford each knocked down three.
 
Early in the second half, Leaf scored five-straight points to stretch the APU lead to 48-34. CPP managed to pull within seven briefly, but three-straight layups put the Cougars ahead, 64-47, at the 7:53 mark. Pomona came within single-digits once more, but never really threatened a comeback.