SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – No. 5 seed Azusa Pacific rallied in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime in the NCAA Division II West Regional semifinals against No. 8 Alaska, but the Cougars came up empty on the final possession of overtime in a 72-71 defeat to the Nanooks on Saturday evening.
 
Ken West poured in a career-high 29 points, scoring 22 in the first half alone to get within one point of his previous career-high (23) in the first 20 minutes of action. Justin Hemsley added 12 points, but it was McKelary Robertson’s pull-up three-pointer with 5 seconds left that tied the game at 65-65 to force overtime.
 
Alaska countered with a trio of 20-point scorers, led by a 28-point effort from Shadeed Shabazz before he fouled out in the final minute of regulation. Koby Huerta picked up the scoring load in overtime, tying the game at 70-70 with a banked 3-pointer with 2:13 left, and he added the game-winner on a short two-point jumper with just over a minute left in overtime after Hayden Gray sank 1-of-2 free throws to give Azusa Pacific a 71-70 edge.
 
The Cougars had the ball for the final possession after a Huerta miss was rebounded by Hemsley, but the Nanooks' interior defense prevented Azusa Pacific from getting off a potential game-winning shot attempt as the final seconds ticked away.
 
Azusa Pacific finished the season with a 21-10 record after making its fifth NCAA West Regional appearance in the past eight seasons. The Cougars are now 6-3 all-time in West Regional postseason play.
 
Azusa Pacific never trailed in the first half, taking a 35-32 halftime edge behind a 22-point opening-frame outburst from West, who hit 4-of-5 three-pointers and made all of his other seven shot attempts (three two-point field goals and four free throws) in the period. His second 3-pointer of the game gave the Cougars a 22-14 edge midway through the opening half, with the 8-point margin representing their largest lead of the half.
 
Shabazz opened the second half with a bucket that cut the Cougars’ lead to 35-34, but Justin Hemsley answered with a pair of three-pointers. Robertson and Terrence Becvar added 3-pointers to help Azusa Pacific to a 14-4 run that resulted in its largest lead of the game, an 11-point margin at 49-38 with 13:04 to play.
 
Alaska responded with a 25-9 run over the next 11 minutes, and Shabazz led the way with 16 points during the run, although it was Abdullahi Mohamed’s spinning layup which gave the Nanooks their first lead of the game with just over 4 minutes left in the contest, 56-55. Shabazz scored the next seven points, extending Alaska’s lead to 63-58 with just over a minute to play. Becvar knocked down a pair of free throws with 47 seconds left to cut the margin to 63-60, and West added two more from the line with 17 seconds to trim the deficit to 63-62. Mohamed hit two free throws at the other end to set up Robertson’s game-tying 3-pointer with five seconds left in regulation.
 
West’s 29-point effort was the fifth 20-point game of his career, surpassing his previous career-high of 23 points with his fifth 3-pointer of the contest, which gave APU a 55-51 lead with 6:09 left in regulation.