Box Score Rocklin, Calif.- Saturday's game, deemed the GSAC Game of the Week, saw No. 8 Arizona Christian produce leads of 1-14 points but never allow even a tie. In a second half that saw one brief number digit edge for ACU, the Firestorm held off the Warriors for the win to conclude the first half of GSAC play.
- Game score: Arizona Christian - 78, William Jessup - 75
- Records: Arizona Christian - 18-3, 6-3 GSAC, William Jessup - 19-2, 7-2 GSAC
- NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 8, William Jessup - 4
- Location: Warrior Arena, William Jessup University, Rocklin, CA
- Dennis Flowers III delivered three free throws to open the scoring
- WJU cut the deficit to one three times through the first eight minutes
- With 12 minutes left in the half, ACU turned an 18-14 edge into 28-14 lead
- Four Firestorm scored in the run with Green producing the last four points
- With 65 seconds before the break, the Warriors fought back to just two down
- But Green closed the half with a dunk and layup with an "and one"
- Hayden (11 points) and Green (9 points) topped ACU at the half
- Two minutes into half two, Arizona Christian was up ten (their only double digit lead in the final 20 minutes)
- At 11:57 left, WJU climbed within one at 50-49
- With two minutes left, Bradford scored to extend ACU to up nine
- Enough made free throws the rest of the way allowed ACU to hold on
- Odd fact- ACU starters out scored WJU starters (51-48) as both benches scored 27 points
Thoughts from Coach Rutter
"We did a great job defensively today. Our guys stayed locked in and executed. It was great to have another opportunity to close one out on the road after Thursday when we did not finish as well as we would have liked. I am proud of our guys for coming back tough after disappointment last game."
Up Next
After returning to Arizona, the Firestorm will head back to California next week for two games to begin GSAC part two. On Thursday, Arizona Christian will be at The Master's. Tip-off from Santa Clarita will be at 8:30 pm (AZ)/ 7:30 pm (Pacific).
