Phoenix, AZ- Arizona Christian Men's Basketball opened their week of exhibition games with a 94-87 win over NCAA DII Eastern New Mexico. Senior Matt Willkomm topped ACU with 18 points. Senior Patson Siame scored 16 points while pulling down 13 rebounds. Junior Callum Lawson added 16 points.
The exhibition action started a little slow as both teams managed just six points each in the first six minutes.
After Willkomm nailed a three pointer to give the Firestorm an 11-10 edge, the Greyhounds responded with a 9-0 run to move in front.
Down 23-15, Lawson put on a show as he went on a personal 8-0 run to knot the game at 23-23.
Following several more ties including at 31-31, ACU closed out the half by converting seven of the final 11 points. Sophomore Lawrence Combs scored the game tying bucket and then made the go ahead and one free throw. Junior Kaleb Castro dropped in two free throws. Freshman Isaiah Walton delivered the final four Arizona Christian points of the half.
At the break, the Firestorm held a 38-34 lead thanks in part to hitting 13-13 of free throws in the opening 20 minutes. Lawson and Walton accounted for eight points each in the half.
The first three minutes of the second half resulted in the game being tied at 42-42. Walton sent ACU ahead 44-42. Senior Andy Sessions made one of two free throws followed by a three pointer from the left corner to push ACU ahead by six. The game was never closer than three points the rest of the way and grew to as large as a 13 point advantage with about five minutes to go.
Arizona Christian was money down the stretch as they missed just one free throw in the final four minutes of action.
Behind Willkomm's 18 points, Walton ended up with 17 points. Siame scored 14 of his 16 points and reeled in nine of his 13 boards in the second half.
Head Coach Jeff Rutter stated," That was a good win tonight. I am proud of the guys and how they battled back after a slow start. Callum and Patson continue to own the paint and that kept us in it till we settled down. We were without a couple very good players, so we went a little deeper than usual, and had a couple guys bring toughness and energy and turned the game around for us.
Rutter focused on one player with this comment, "Walton had a great game. He has not gotten to play in our first couple scrimmages and games but he answered in a big way when called upon. No one works on their game more than Isaiah and it showed tonight. He played confident and tough and we controlled the game after he went on a run offensively."
The Firestorm will continue their week with an exhibition at Arizona State University on Friday at 6:00 pm. The Sun Devils are offering free admission into the Wells Fargo Arena for the game.
