With Azusa Pacific holding an 8-point lead at the half, Hornbuckle spurred an 11-0 run that put the Cougars up 54-35 less than 4 minutes into the second half. Hornbuckle got the Cougars started with a put-back of a Lance Soderberg miss and then drained a jumper 3 minutes later. When he assisted on Josh Dillon’s fast-break lay-up the Cougars had a 19-point cushion and the game in hand.
Over the past 6 games Hornbuckle is averaging 18.7 points after averaging just 2.1 in the previous 7 contests.
“For me it’s just a confidence thing,” said Hornbuckle. “I was a freshman in a new program, and I wasn’t sure of my role. The coaches told me they wanted me to get more involved in the offensive end. Since then I’ve been hitting my shots.”
Center Tim Kruge led Point Loma with a game-high 24 points, and gave the Sea Lions a couple of 1-point leads on lay-ups early in the game. However, Soderberg and Hornbuckle teamed up for the next 10 Cougar points, and Azusa Pacific moved out to a 14-7 lead. The Cougars lead by as much as 13 in the first half before settling for a 43-35 halftime lead.
The victory accomplishes Azusa Pacific’s primary goal of advancing on in the GSAC Tournament and avenges the Cougars’ most recent loss, a 3-point setback to the Sea Lions in San Diego 2 weeks ago. However, the Cougars’ play was less than sparkling.
“I wasn’t pleased with our effort tonight,” said Azusa Pacific coach Bill Odell. “We didn’t have intensity that we needed to have, and we’re not talented enough to play the way we played tonight. We’ve got to play hard, be aggressive and play together. That’s what hurt us down there. We felt like we were a step slow and not really ready to play.”
Soderberg, who was named All-GSAC yesterday, celebrated his first postseason honor with 18 points and 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season.
“Everyone here knows that we’re a solid team that likes to play together,” said Soderberg, who is currently averaging team-highs of 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds. “We know we can be much better, and that we can go far. We just need to play like we know that we can. For us it’s a mental thing.”
Spencer Foster added 13 points and 8 rebounds off the bench.
With the victory, Azusa Pacific moves into the GSAC Tournament semifinals for the sixth straight year where the Cougars will meet The Master’s, a 75-59 upset winner at Biola tonight, in the second of 2 semifinals Saturday (March 5) at Hope International University at 7:30 p.m. Concordia will take on Cal Baptist in the other semifinal at 5:30 p.m. The championship game is set for Tuesday (March 8) at 7:30 p.m. at Hope International.
“I’ve always said that Master’s is the most talented team in the conference,” said Odell. “They are very dangerous because they are playing for their lives. They are awfully good and very big up front and talented, and we don’t necessarily have the size to match up with them. They have nothing to lose, so that makes them extremely dangerous.”
Azusa Pacific improves to 24-8 while Point Loma’s season comes to an end at 7-24.
