Box Score Chandler, Ariz.- With their 78-69 win over Montana State-Northern on Monday, Arizona Christian finished 3-0 at the Cactus Classic. Senior Angelo Johnson topped ACU with 14 points.
- Game score: Arizona Christian - 78, Montana State-Northern - 69
- Records: Arizona Christian - 14-2, Montana State-Northern - 10-4
- NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 10, Montana State-Northern - not ranked
- Location: Coyote Center, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Chandler, AZ
- Davis and ACU scored first
- MSUN score the next four points
- Over the first 16 and a half minutes, the teams exchanged six lead changes and two ties
- At the 5:15 mark, MSUN led 23-19
- A dunk from Bowers started a 16-0 ACU run to close the half
- Wilson connected on a three pointer to put the Firestorm in front 24-23
- The Firestorm remained ahead through the final buzzer of the afternoon
- Both teams shot over 40% from the field for the game- ACU (47.3%) and MSUN (40%)
Thoughts from Coach Rutter
"I am proud of our guys. Going 3-0 at the classic is great and doing so against three programs that are frequently at the national tournament is tough to do. We had some great stretches defensively. I think we had 11 consecutive stops to end the half. We were a little inconsistent with our shot selection and effort in the second half, and that prevented us from blowing it open. We have improved a lot since the start of the year and will continue to keep working on improving in those areas when we get back from the break."
Up Next
The Firestorm will enjoy Christmas and an 11 day break before playing at Park-Gilbert on New Year's Eve. The afternoon game will be at 1:00 pm at the PHHacility.
