Fullerton, CA- With their GSAC tournament seeding and an attempt to secure a trip to NAIA Nationals at stake, #15 Arizona Christian's comeback bid came up just short as they dropped a 77-75 game at #5 Hope International on Thursday.  Senior Jackson Helms scored a team high 18 points.

In the first two minutes and 20 seconds, the Firestorm (21-7, 9-6 GSAC) and the Royals (25-4, 13-2 GSAC) turned every point into a lead change.  Senior Brandon Newman made a free throw, four HIU points were sandwiched around a layup by Senior Sharif Watson, and then a Newman three pointer gave ACU a 6-4 lead.

Following two points each from Junior Chris Sterling and Helms, Arizona Christian pushed out to a 10-7 edge.  However, Hope International countered with an 11-0 run over a three minute span to go up by eight- their largest lead of the first half.

Move ahead to halftime, the score was HIU 39, ACU 34.  HIU's Bernard Ireland was fouled on a rebound attempt with 0.03 seconds remaining and made the two ensuing free throws to create the halftime score.  At game's end those two free throws would turn out to be HUGE.

At the break, Helms topped all scorers with 12 points on 6-7 shooting from the field.

Out of halftime, the Firestorm needed just 39 seconds to tie the score at 39-39 thanks to a three pointer from Senior Bobby Gray and jumper in the paint from Helms.

The next seven minutes was nearing all HIU as they exploded out to a 13 point cushion thanks to a 19-6 run.

Despite getting back within four points, Arizona Christian found themselves down 71-59 at the 7:42 mark.  Game over all but the final score- correct?  No so fast. 

ACU closed out the game with a 16-6 scoring run and in fact a dunk by Watson had the Firestorm down just one with about 40 seconds to go.  But a Hope International made free throw and two missed shots by Arizona Christian produced the final result.

HIU's Dominique Lanier was the thorn in the Firestorm side as he poured in 16 points in the second half on his way to a game high 27 points.

Joining Helms in double figures for ACU was Newman and Sterling with 12 points each.

The two things that ACU knows is that they are in the GSAC playoffs (which will all be hosted at Hope International) and that they play at Vanguard to close the regular season on Saturday at 5:00 pm (AT)/ 4:00 pm (PT).  But the two things that ACU still needs to have answered on Saturday or beyond is their playoff seeding and if they have done enough to get into the NAIA National tournament.