El Cajon, CA- A bigger second half saw Arizona Christian pull away from San Diego Christian for the 93-72 win on Thursday.  The victory was the first GSAC win of the season for the Firestorm as they shot over 50% in every category for the game.  Senior Sam Finley topped ACU with 21 points.

After Senior Matt Willkomm scored the first basket of the game, the Hawks (3-10, 0-4 GSAC) looked like they were prepared to defend their home turf with a 9-2 run to move ahead by five.

But a three pointer from Junior Torrian Epps reserved the momentum and a dunk by Sophomore Lawrence Combs pushed the Firestorm (13-5, 1-3 GSAC) back ahead.

The lead for ACU stretched out to 11 at 28-17.  Over the next four minutes, SDCC countered with a 13-0 run to move in front 30-28.

Finley nailed a three pointer to erase the deficit and ACU closed out the final five plus minutes without giving up the lead.  Junior Andres Aguado and Willkomm knocked down three pointers during that time frame.

With a 45-41 advantage at the break, Finley was the leading scorer for ACU with 17 points.  For San Diego Christian, Derek Novsek delivered 18 of his game high 23 points in the opening 20 minutes.

ACU hit 54.5% of their shots and 58.3% from behind the arc in the first half.

However, the Firestorm were just getting warmed up as they shot 58.6% from the field in the second half on their way to 48 points.

Just over four minutes into the second act, Willkomm gave ACU a double digit cushion for the remainder of the contest.

Epps concluded his night with 19 points.  Willkomm added 16 points with six assists.

On Saturday, the Firestorm will challenge #7 Hope International on their home floor in Fullerton.  Tip-off is set for 3:00 pm PT/ 4:00 pm AT.