IRVINE, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific and Academy of Art are both 3-0 in PacWest play with five-game winning streaks following last week’s games. Azusa Pacific gave Biola its first PacWest loss with a 68-55 win, while Academy of Art defeated Concordia and Point Loma making this the first time ever that the Urban Knights have beaten both teams in the same season.
Azusa Pacific opened Saturday’s game with a 21-4 run against Biola and led for the rest of the game.
Justin Hemsley scored a team-high 20 points and
McKelary Robertson added 17 points off the bench, while the Cougar defense produced nine steals against Biola.
Starting with its win over Saint Martin’s, Academy of Art has won five games in a row against tough competition, including the PacWest Preseason Favorite Point Loma on Saturday.
Klay Brown scored 16 points and helped the Urban Knights hold on at the end for a 76-74 win to keep the winning streak going.
Hawai`i Hilo and Fresno Pacific also won their conference games this week. The Vulcans beat Point Loma and Hawai`i Pacific at home, and the Sunbirds went to San Rafael to defeat Dominican.
Jelani Watson-Gayle led Fresno Pacific with 18 points in the win, making 7 of 13 shots.
Concordia’s
Wayne Arnold now ranks third in the country in points per game after he scored 24 points against Academy of Art He is averaging 25.7 points per game and has made multiple 3-pointers in every game.
This week, Chaminade will play four games against the four northern California teams in the PacWest. On Saturday, Dominican will play at Biola, and Azusa Pacific will go to Point Loma.
Weekly awards for the week of Dec. 6-12
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Aniwaniwa Tait-Jones, Hawai`i Hilo
F, Fr., 6-6 -- Wellington, New Zealand
Tait-Jones has scored at least 11 points in every game so far this season after he led the Vulcans to wins last week against Point Loma and Hawai`i Pacific. Against the Sea Lions, the native of New Zealand filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block. Then on Sunday, Tait-Jones tallied 21 points in just 24 minutes. He made 9 of 11 shots and collected four rebounds with two assists to help the Vulcans improve to 6-4 on the season. He also made his third 3-pointer of the season. Tait-Jones is averaging 16.8 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, which both rank in the top-4 in the PacWest so far this season. Sunday’s win was the Vulcans’ final game before the Christmas break after which they will face Hawai`i Pacific again, looking to extend their winning streak which is currently at two.
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Latrell Williams, Academy of Art
F, So., 6-5 -- Gary, Ind.
Williams is the PacWest leader in rebounds this season with an average of 9.2 per game after he helped Academy of Art earn wins against Concordia and Point Loma last week to improve to 3-0 in the PacWest and first place in the conference standings. Williams scored 15 points with 13 rebounds against Concordia for his fourth double-double this season. He also had two steals and 12 of his rebounds came on the defensive side. Then on Saturday, Williams helped the Urban Knights end their 12-game losing streak to Point Loma, beating the Sea Lions for the first time since 2013. He scored 13 points with nine rebounds to go along with two blocks and two steals. Williams now has 13 steals and five blocks this season along with 60 defensive rebounds. Academy of Art leads the PacWest in steals this season and is holding opponents to an average of 74.2 points per game with a .429 field-goal percentage. The Urban Knights winning streak is up to five.