Women’s Basketball
Azusa Pacific women’s basketball dropped its second PacWest matchup to preseason favorite Academy of Art 74-70 on Saturday.
The Cougars led the Urban Knights 40-35 at the end of the first half and continued to control the game in the second half until Academy of Art cut Azusa Pacific’s once 11-point lead to a tied game with just under six minutes to play.
The Urban Knights eventually pulled ahead by one with 1:41 left on the clock. APU managed to knot the score in the final minute; however, a jump shot and two completed free throws from AAU’s Krystal Forthan sealed the victory for the Knights.
Sophomore forward Maggie Dumphy led the Cougars with a career-high 24 points, followed by junior forward Kelly Hardeman with 16 and junior guard Cyndie Jones with 11 points and 10 assists.
Forthan led the Knights’ scoring efforts with 27 points while also grabbing 17 rebounds.
Azusa Pacific will return to the Felix Event Center for the first home conference game of the season Jan. 3 against Holy Names.
Men’s Basketball
The Azusa Pacific men’s basketball team will be coming home for Christmas with an 11-game winning streak, thanks to Saturday’s 100-75 victory over Academy of Art.
The Cougars controlled all 40 minutes of play, leading by double digits the entirety of the second half.
Four Cougars ended in double-digit points, led by senior guard Troy Leaf with 28. Senior forward Jared Zoller contributed a career-high 22 points, shooting 5-for-6 from 3-point range.
Senior guard Robert Sandoval finished with 19 points and six assists as junior guard LyDell Cardwell grabbed 11 points. The bench had continued success, producing 41 points.
Academy of Art shot 45.8 percent from the field, led by Herman Pratt, who went 8-for-12 with 20 points.
The Urban Knights gave up 21 points off turnovers.
The Cougars will host Holy Names at the Felix Event Center Jan. 3.