FULLERTON, Calif. - The NAIA's number 16 team, Hope International University (18-1, 3-0 GSAC) held onto a share of first place in the Golden State Athletics Conference with a 71-51 men's basketball victory over Arizona Christian University (12-3, 2-1 GSAC), Tuesday, January 15, at Darling Pavilion in Fullerton, California. 

This week, ACU received votes for the first time ever in the NAIA National Top 25 Coaches' poll and totaled 60 points while Hope International moved to 16th place from receiving votes in the ranking, the first time the Royals have ever been ranked in the national Top 25. ACU has never ranked in the Top 25. 

Coached by Jeff Rutter, ACU plays its next GSAC game, Saturday, January 19, at Vanguard University (12-6, 1-2 GSAC) at The Pit in Costa Mesa, California, at 8:30 p.m. Arizona time. No. 7 Westmont College (15-3, 3-0 GSAC) defeated Vanguard, 64-47, Tuesday. The ACU women's basketball team meets the NAIA's number one ranked team Vanguard University in the first game of the Jan. 19 GSAC doubleheader (6:30 Arizona time). 

In other GSAC men's basketball action Tuesday night, Concordia University (12-5, 1-2 GSAC) won on the road at The Master's College (11-7, 0-3 GSAC), 88-78, and Biola University (11-8, 1-2 GSAC) beat San Diego Christian College (4-8, 0-3 GSAC), 72-64, in San Diego. 

Hope International trailed 8-6 with 15:17 left in the first half and scored seven consecutive points at the beginning of a 21-6 run that gave the Royals a 27-14 advantage with 5:32 left. HIU finished the half with a 14-2 run that brought the Royals to its widest lead of the first half, 41-20, with 13 seconds left before the halftime intermission. KIU guard Jeremy Kilgore, last week's conference Player of the Week, led all scorers with 15 points and 3 three-pointers, and forward Austin Sanford tallied 11 points and had three steals in the first half. Junior reserve forward Daniel Cornelius (Phoenix, Ariz./Phoenix Christian H.S.) led ACU with 5 first-half points. 

Hope International, which committed just one turnovers in the opening 20 minutes, made 16 of 40 shots in the first half (.400), 4 three-pointers and all five of its free throws and stole the ball eight times from ACU. ACU committed 10 first-half turnovers and made just 9 of its 29 shots (.310), 2 three-pointers, and attempted no free throws. 

The Firestorm whittled down Hope's lead to 12 points, 48-36, with a 16-4 run over a period of just less than six minutes. Junior guard Mason Jones (Huntington Beach, Calif./Ocean View H.S./Eastern Oregon Univ.) scored eight of ACU's points during the run, including the last six in the streak. Later ACU further sliced the lead to nine points, 54-45, with 6:16 left, as Hope went without a field goal for over four minutes. Hope went back ahead by 13, 58-45, with 5:13, and ACU cut that lead down to nine again, 58-49, at the 4:15 mark on Jones' lay-up. 

Junior guard Charles King (Houston, Tex./Stephen F. Austin H.S./Phoenix College scored his tenth point of the second half and made the score 60-51 with 2:39 remaining in the game, but ACU drew no closer than nine points the rest of the way. Two free throws by Kilgore gave him 20 points for the game and took HIU to a 63-51 lead, and guard Kris Rosales made six free throws and forward Orlando Collins two free throws in a span of 31 seconds for a 71-51 lead with 36 seconds left. 

Four Royals scored 12 or more points, led by Kilgore with 20 points, 4 three-pointers, three rebounds and two steals, and Rosales had 18 points, including 8 of 9 free throws, four rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Sanford finished with 15 points, one three-pointer, three rebounds, one block and three steals, and Collins totaled 12 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Guard Garrett Neilan contributed six points, six rebounds, four assists and two steals. 

Charles King led ACU with 13 points, 11 in the second half, one three-pointer, two rebounds, two assists and one steal, and Mason Jones scored 12 points with one three-pointer, gathered eight rebounds, passed four assists and blocked one shot. Junior forward Jordan Block (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif./Claremont H.S./Pasadena City College) totaled 10 points, five rebounds and one steal, and freshman forward Jackson Helms (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta Valley H.S.) added six points and four rebounds. Cornelius contributed five points, five rebounds and one blocked shot, and senior guard A.J. Koch (Tucson, Ariz./Flowing Wells H.S.) scored five points, made one three-pointer and grabbed two rebounds.