Azusa Pacific falls in quarterfinals

Mountain State University of West Virginia used a 24-5 run that lasted seven minutes to race away from Azusa Pacific and post a 72-51 victory Saturday in the quarterfinals of the NAIA tournament at Kansas City, Mo.

Guards James Spencer and Jarvis Jackson scored 24 of their combined 37 points in the second half and keyed the decisive run, which opened with Spencer’s three-point basket and ended with a Jackson three-pointer that made the score 56-40 with 11:35 left.

In a battle of the Cougars, Mountain State outscored Azusa Pacific, 40-19, in the second half. Mountain State posted its seventh consecutive win to improve to 33-2.

Spencer led Mountain State with a game-high 20 points while Jackson had 17. They scored 11 of the Cougars’ 14 consecutive points at the outset of the run.

Mike Danielian led Azusa Pacific (24-11) with 13 points, all in the first half. Mountain State shut down the Cougars’ front-line tandem of Davon Roberts and David Burgess, who came in averaging 28 points and 20 rebounds after two tournament games. They were held to 14 points and 10 rebounds -- Roberts had 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.

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Second-seeded Vanguard (27-5) held Carroll, Mont., without a basket for eight minutes and advanced to the semifinals of the NAIA women’s tournament with a 71-56 victory over the Fighting Saints (27-6) at Jackson, Tenn.