NAIA CHAMPIONSHIPS : Azusa Ousted by Hawaii Pacific

Next time, serve decaf, would be Azusa Pacific’s recommendation.

Hawaii Pacific woke up in the second half and eliminated the Cougars, 97-78, Thursday in the second round of the NAIA basketball tournament.

Hawaii Pacific (27-7) will play Life College of Georgia today in the quarterfinals.

“We were a little sluggish in the first half and arguing amongst ourselves,” said Hawaii Pacific’s John Strickland, a transfer from Louisville. “We decided to win together or lose together.

“That, and maybe a little bit of coffee.”

Azusa and Hawaii had the 9 a.m. game, which meant a two-hour time difference for Azusa and a five-hour difference for Hawaii.

Azusa Pacific, ending its season at 29-5, led for most of the first half and had a halftime lead of 46-41. But Brian Blackwell scored 22 of his game-high 28 points in the second half as Hawaii Pacific turned the game around and won easily.

“It seemed like everything I called in the first half worked,” Azusa Pacific Coach Bill Odell said. “But (Blackwell) just went off. If they had gone to him in the first half, we probably wouldn’t have been in the game then.”

Certainly they weren’t in it for much of the second half as Hawaii Pacific led by 12 points nine minutes into the half and by 22 with 3:48 remaining.

Noting his team’s uniforms, Hawaii Coach Tony Sellitto said, “How can you beat a team wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day?”

Strickland got Azusa forward Ronnie Winbush and center Paul White into foul trouble in the first half. Then, when Azusa Pacific’s guards dropped back on defense, Blackwell’s game opened up.

“Once they picked their game up, we didn’t react,” said Winbush, who finished with a team-high 18 points. “We had our shots, but they weren’t falling. Today we tried to come back with too much one-on-one, and not play as a team.”

Success might have been Azusa Pacific’s downfall.

“I don’t think they’re used to being behind--they didn’t lose many this year,” Blackwell said.