Box Score Kansas, Mo.- After letting the first half lead slip away late, No. 4 Arizona Christian came back with a strong second half to beat Bethel (KS) in the NAIA Round of 16 on Thursday. The win pushes ACU into the NAIA Quarterfinals on Saturday at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City.
- Game score: Arizona Christian - 82, Xavier (LA) - 66
- Records: Arizona Christian - 30-4, Bethel (KS) - 28-8
- NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 4, Bethel (KS) - 20
- Location: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO
- The first six minutes featured five lead changes and two ties
- Tied 13-13, Davis laid home two to start an 8-0 ACU run
- ACU built as large as a nine point lead twice
- With six minutes left in the half, the Firestorm held a 35-26 edge
- But the Threshers closed the half on a 14-2 run (back-to-back threes on last two possessions) to take a 40-37 lead to the locker room
- Johnson scored 11 points in the first 20 minutes
- Bethel scored first in half two and remained in front for the first 3:30 minutes
- Wilson scored to force a 43-43 tie and Braford followed with a three to push ACU back in front for good
- After allowing six first half three pointers, Arizona Christian held Bethel to 1-16 (6.3%) three point shooting in the second half
- With the win, the Firestorm improve to 7-6 in NAIA national tournament play- their first winning record at the tourney
- ACU advances to the quarterfinals- equaling their furthest advancement, matching their effort in 2019
- The Firestorm become the first GSAC team to win 30 games in a season since former GSAC foe Biola went 30-4 in 2015-16
Thoughts from Coach Rutter
"We did a great job defensively tonight. Bethel is very talented offensively. Scott is a load and single handedly got us in foul trouble in the first half. We didn't close the half as well as we would have liked. Too many turnovers and they did a good job converting. I thought we played a very good second half. Dennis and Micah were very good defensively. AJ and Xander hit some real big shots to help us close it out."
Up Next
After a day on Friday, Arizona Christian will face GSAC foe William Jessup in the quarterfinals on Saturday. The Firestorm will have the tough challenge of beating the Warriors for the third time in one season. Tip-off will come at 1:00 pm (Central)/ 11:00 am (Arizona).
