RIVERSIDE, Calif. — In one of the last matchups with rival Azusa Pacific before California Baptist University makes the move to NCAA Division I, the Lancers came out ready to play and grabbed a 75-69 victory. It puts the CBU on the hunt of the PacWest's top spot, sitting a half game behind the Cougars and Dixie State, who are tied for first place. 

"Especially when you're playing against the team that's leading the conference, it's going to be a 40-minute game and tonight proved to be that," said Coach Rick Croy. "We had a great environment and we're really glad we were able to come through."
 
The No. 24-ranked Lancers improve to 13-3 overall, 6-2 in the PacWest with their fourth-straight victory over the Cougars. APU drops to 11-6 on the year, 7-2 in conference and sees its five-game winning streak snapped.
 
Kalidou Diouf led with 23 points (9-for-17) and 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the year, while two other Lancers finished in double figures. Jason Todd followed with a double-double as well, chipping in 14 points (3-for-5) and 11 boards. Gabe Taylor contributed 12 points, while Jordan Heading was just on the cusp with nine points.

Off the glass, CBU dominated a 50-to-39 margin, with De'jon Davis adding six rebounds to help his team keep the Cougars off the board. The Lancers went into the game ranked 10th in the NCAA Division II with a 10.0 average rebounding margin. 

"I tried to pursue every single rebound I could get and make sure the other team couldn't grab too many offensive boards," said Diouf. "APU is a tough team, they're really physical. You have to make sure you don't let them get going on the boards and I think I did a good job with that."
 
CBU took its first double-digit lead of the night when Taylor sunk a free throw to put his team up 12-2 six minutes into the contest. Diouf accounted for almost half those points, scoring five of the Lancers' first 11 points.
 
APU tried to chip away at the lead and cut the score to five points, 25-20, but CBU threatened to take back its double-digit lead with a strong layup from Diouf less than a minute left in the first. It put the Lancers into halftime with a 39-30 lead.
 
Momentum carried into the second half as Todd knocked down two free throws to give his team a 41-30 lead just seconds into the frame.
 
Things got interesting, however, as APU pulled ahead 49-47 with 12 minutes left to play.

"I think we got away from doing some of the things that we really wanted to do, both defensively and offensively," said Croy. "We rushed some things on offense, which created some good offense for them, but we stuck with it. This team digs deep when things get stuff."
 
It was back-and-forth for the next few minutes until Davis drove to the basket and the Lancer defense got a stop to go back on the attack. Taylor then drained a wide-open three off a Ty Rowell assist to put CBU in front 55-51.
 
Taylor came up big from beyond the arc with just about seven and a half left to play, erupting the crowd in cheers as the Lancers took a 62-54 lead.
 
APU managed to put an 8-0 run together to tie the game at 62-62, but Diouf sank two shots at the charity stripe to keep CBU in front.
 
Intensity built heading down the stretch as the Cougars evened the game up for the fifth time, 68-68.

"It comes back to just keeping your poise," said Heading. "Basketball is a game of runs – we make our run and they're going to make their run. We just stayed with it and kept playing our game."
 
Each time APU tied the game up, however, Diouf had a response to put CBU back in front. The big man made a big stop by grabbing a missed Cougar shot with under a minute left to play and the Lancers took their time to shave seconds off the clock.
 
APU called a timeout with 37.2 seconds left on the clock, down 70-68. The Cougars drew a foul 10 seconds later, but only made one of the free throws to put CBU up 70-69 with 27 seconds to go.
 
The visitors had to resort to fouling to try to get the ball back, but Heading hit both shots to put his team in front by three. APU tried to hit a deep three, but it was off the mark. Todd and Taylor sealed the game at the line, 75-69.
 
The Lancers turn right around to host Hawai'i Pacific on Monday at 7:00 p.m.

 

A post shared by cbulancers (@cbulancers) on Jan 13, 2018 at 10:49pm PST