March 17, 2006

Kansas City, Mo. - Sixth-seeded Azusa Pacific University (Calif.) withstood a late second-half rally by Trevecca Nazarene University (Tenn.) and held on to win by a score of 78-75.  The Cougars advance to the quarterfinals of the 69^th Annual Buffalo Funds - NAIA Division I Men's Basketball National Championship.  The 32-team, single-elimination tournament runs March 15-21 at Municipal Auditorium.

Trevecca Nazarene scored first in the game and held a five-point lead early in the first half, but Azusa Pacific would go on a 24-13 run late in the half to take a 40-34 lead into halftime.  The Cougars maintained that lead throughout most of the second half, but Trevecca Nazarene's Alex Renfroe scored a basket in the paint with 2:31 remaining to cut the lead to 71-62.  The Trojans would then have a 13-4 run to get within two points with 20 seconds left in regulation.  Scott Zea would then make three of four free throws for Azusa Pacific in the closing seconds to seal the win. 

Zea led Azusa Pacific with 22 points on 7-for-14 shooting from the field, as well as 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.  The junior forward also had a team-high eight rebounds.  Demario Butler had 17 points for the Cougars while Lance Soderberg finished with 11.  Azusa Pacific shot 40% from the floor (28-for-70) and just under 89% from the free-throw line.  The Cougars out-rebounded the Trojans 47-33, including 20 offensive boards.  This is the11th consecutive national tournament appearance for the Cougars, who finished as the national runner-up in last year's tournament. 

Senior guard Jerod Perry led all scorers in the game with 27 points on 8-for-13 shooting from the field, including 6-for-11 from behind the arc.  Alex Renfroe and Collins Onyando also finished in double figures with 17 and 13 points each, respectively.  Onyando was the team's leading rebounder with ten boards while Renfroe had eight.  Trevecca Nazarene shot just under 49% from the field (26-for-58) and 39% from the three-point line (9-for-23), but struggled from the free-throw line, shooting just 58% (14-for-24).  The Trojans were making their fourth national tournament appearance and made their first back-to-back tournament appearance in school history.  Trevecca Nazarene finishes their season with a 26-7 overall record. 

Azusa Pacific (30-5) will advance to Saturday's quarterfinal round. They will face third-seeded Robert Morris College (Ill.) (30-3), who defeated Spring Hill College 87-71 earlier today. The two teams met in the semifinals of last year's tournament with Azusa Pacific claiming a 96-88 victory.  Game time is scheduled for 2 p.m. (CST).