Phoenix, AZ- On the strength of nailing 22-25 (88%) of their free throws in the second half, Arizona Christian held off San Diego Christian 78-73 on Tuesday night.  Junior Chris Sterling topped the Firestorm with 18 points.

A dose of Senior Jackson Helms and three pointers helped the Firestorm (11-2, 1-1 GSAC) get out in front and stay there the entire first half.  Helms scored the first points of the game.  Seniors Brandon Newman and Bobby Gray nailed back-to-back three pointers followed by a Newman fast break layup.  When Helms knocked down a baby sky hook in the paint less than five minutes into the contest they built their first six point edge at 12-6.

Move ahead to the final two plus minutes of the first half when Senior Mike Navar stepped out and a hit a three pointer to give ACU a nine point cushion- their largest of the game.

By halftime ACU maintained a five point edge at 38-33.  Newman topped Arizona Christian with 10 points on 4-6 shooting.  As a team, the Firestorm converted 14 of their 28 field goals in the half but shot a less than impressive 41.7% from the free throw line.

Two minutes plus into the second half, Arizona Christian once again found themselves up nine.  But the Hawks (5-4, 0-2 GSAC) used an 11-0 run in just a two and a half minute stretch to take their first lead of the game at 44-42.

Following a handful of game tying or lead changing shots, SDCC built a 53-47 edge with 13:17 to play.

However, Sterling went to work scoring seven of the next nine ACU points to give the Firestorm a lead at 56-55.

Tied 63-63 at the 6:44 mark, the free throw marathon really kicked in for ACU.  Scoring just one more shot from the field- a three pointer by Sterling- Arizona Christian shot a perfect 12-12 from the charity strip in the final moments.

Behind Sterling's 18 points (6-10 from the free throw line), Gray ended up with 15 points (6-7 from the stripe) and Newman finished with 14 points (4-4 behind the line).

San Diego Christian's Dalante Dunklin single-handedly tried to knock off the Firestorm as he scored a game high 24 points while pulling down a game high nine rebounds before fouling out in the closing seconds of the game.

Next up for the Firestorm will be a neutral site contest on Thursday with Montana Tech that will be played at Chandler-Gilbert Community College at 6:00 pm (AT).  The Hawks will play at Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at 3:00 pm (PT).