IRVINE, Calif. – Azusa Pacific and California Baptist both won their semifinal matchups at the PacWest Men’s Basketball Championships, setting up a tournament final that is a rematch of last year’s NCAA West Regional final. The Cougars and Lancers will face off for the conference title and automatic qualifier on Saturday at 2 p.m.
CBU 90 –Dixie State 73
Another big second half performance propelled CBU past No. 2 Dixie State, 90-73 and into the tournament final for the second-consecutive season. CBU outscored Dixie State 28-11 over the final eight minutes of the game.
Michael Smith matched his performance in the semifinals with a career-best 33 points to become the first player to score 30 in consecutive tournament games. He shot 10-14 from the field and had seven rebounds and five assists.
Gelaun Wheelwright recorded 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Trevor Hill and
Zac Hunter each scored 15 for the Red Storm.
Two three-pointers fueled an 8-0 run to put the Lancers ahead, 27-21, with 7:30 left in the first half. The Lancers made three more three-pointers as they built a 46-36 lead at the half.
CBU gained a big advantage when PacWest Defender of the Year
Mark Ogden Jr. fouled out with just under 12 minutes remaining. However, Dixie State responded to losing one of its top players with a 7-0 run to tie the score at 60. A few minutes later,
Josh Fuller fouled out, thinning the Dixie State front court rotation even more. CBU followed suit with a 10-0 run to regain the lead, 72-62. Wheelwright made threes on consecutive possessions as the lead swelled past 20 points.
Azusa Pacific 92 – BYU-Hawaii 75
Azusa Pacific won its first PacWest Championship game, beating BYU-Hawaii, 92-75, to advance to the finals. The Cougars made 10 three-pointers and scored the fifth-most points in a conference tournament game.
Petar Kutlesic and
Bruce English each scored 21 points to pace the Cougars. Kutlesic added 13 rebounds, three assists and three steals. English was 4-of-7 from three-point range.
Connor Peterson had 18 points and six assists. BYU-Hawaii’s
Ian Harward logged a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
Trailing by three midway through the first half, APU made four three-pointers during a 23-10 run to pull ahead, 40-30, at the 5:28 mark. BYUH answered with four three-pointers of its own, but could only take a point off the deficit, trailing 53-44 at the half.
APU maintained control throughout the second half, with
Lydell Cardwell scoring eight-straight points to stretch the lead to 14, 71-57.