Azusa Pacific exacts some revenge and cools off Red Storm

AZUSA, Calif. – Zach Robbins had a team-high 20 points and Mark Ogden Jr. posted his first double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds, but the 17th-ranked Cougars of Azusa Pacific held Dixie State without a field goal over the final 4:15 to complete a 72-69 comeback win at the Felix Events Center.

Dixie State had its four-game win streak snapped, falling to 11-6 on the year and 8-3 in the Pacific West. The Cougars picked up their first win in six tries against DSU to improve to 17-2, 10-1.

dsulogoRobbins hit all 10 free throws he attempted, leading Dixie State to an outstanding 33 of 35 (93 percent) performance from the stripe. Ogden was 9 of 10 from the line while DeQuan Thompson posted a perfect night (7-7) en route to 13 points.

Troy Leaf paced the Cougars with 24 points, including a 10-10 night at the free-throw line.

Dixie State broke an early 7-7 stalemate in the first half with a 16-4 run to take a 12-point lead at 23-11. Robbins had a pair of lay-ins while strong defense led to multiple APU turnovers. The resulting fast breaks earned short shots off the glass for Collin Woods and Robbie Nielson while Trevor Hill hit a floater in the paint.

The Cougars hit shots from distance late in the half, slicing the Storm’s lead at halftime to 36-32.

An 11-3 spurt to open the second half allowed DSU to regain a 12-point advantage. Robbins hit a tough baseline jumper with 4:15 on the clock that ended up as the last field goal for the Red Storm.

Leaf would take the Cougars on his back by hitting three clutch free throws that gave APU the lead with 1:15 to go. Mason Sawyer missed a layup attempt in the final minute that could have been the equalizer. APU gained a three-point lead via free throws and fouled Dixie State players before they could attempt a shot from the arc. A last second heave from Sawyer fell short to seal the APU comeback.

Dixie State shot 40.9 percent (18-44) from the floor in the game and held APU under its field goal average by 10 percent (23-57, 40.4 percent).

The Red Storm continue a string of games away from home on Thursday night, Jan. 29, facing Dominican University of California at the Conlan Center.

GAME NOTES: Dixie State dropped its first ever NCAA game to the Cougars in the all-time series (5-1) … All three of DSU’s losses in the league have come on the road … DSU made its first 20 shots from the free-throw line (15-15 in the first half) before an Ogden miss came with 11:29 left in the game … Dixie State was unable to win its fourth straight against an NABC ranked team – the Storm are 4-2 against ranked teams this season.

Stats: APU 72, DSU 69

Women’s Basketball
APU 90, DSU 60

Facing off for the second time in seven days, the Dixie State women’s basketball team suffered a similar fate, falling to Azusa Pacific 90-60 on Saturday afternoon.

A close game over the first 10 minutes, Azusa Pacific (11-7, 7-4) built up a lead throughout the game that was too much for the Red Storm (5-12, 4-7) to come back from.

“We have to get back to playing team ball,” head coach Jenny Thigpin said. “Our lack of discipline really hurt us tonight. We had a lot of unforced turnovers which resulted in second chance points for Azusa Pacific. There are a lot of little things we can control and need to do a better job on the game plan.”

Chermayne Moore led DSU in scoring with 13 points while Haileigh Emerine chipped in 10 to go along with five rebounds. Shantel Roberts was a bright spot off the bench, too, with six points, three rebounds, three steals and one block in 21 minutes of play. Tianna Dougher added six points, two rebounds and one assist. She went a perfect 4 of 4 from the charity stripe.

Azusa Pacific was hot from the field, knocking down 47.1 percent of its shots, including a 7 of 12 mark from downtown, good for 58.3 percent.

Dixie State trailed by one at 13-12 with 13:47 to go in the first half, but the Cougars started to see their shots drop and went on an 11-0 run to stretch the lead. Azusa Pacific nearly doubled up the Red Storm at halftime with a 43-22 lead.

Out of halftime, the home team slammed the door right away, adding onto the lead and taking down Dixie State 90-60 in the end.

The Red Storm travel next week to take on Dominican in San Rafael, Calif. on Thursday, Jan. 29 at 6:30 p.m. MT.

Stats: APU 90, DSU 60

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Twitter: @oldschoolag

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2015, all rights reserved.

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