Atherton, Calif.- On Saturday, Arizona Christian beat Menlo 82-74 to lock up their third straight GSAC regular season championship. The Firestorm led whistle-to-whistle while extending their win streak to a season best seven games.
Game Info
- Game score: Arizona Christian- 82, Menlo- 74
- Records: Arizona Christian- 23-4, 14-3 GSAC, Menlo- 16-10, 7-9 GSAC
- NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian- 2, Menlo- not ranked
- Location: Haynes-Prim Pavilion, Menlo College, Atherton, CA
ACU Stats For The Day
Inside the Box Score
- The Firestorm opened the game with an 11-0 run (keyed by three 3 pointers from Hayden)
- Almost five minutes into the game, the Oaks were finally able to score against the tough Firestorm "D"
- With 2:10 left in the half, Wahlstrom scored and converted an "and one" for a 14 point edge- the largest for the Firestorm
- ACU held a 42-35 edge at the break
- Hayden scored 11 points while Wahlstrom added 10 points in the first 20 minutes
- The second half never saw larger than a nine-point difference in score
- With five minutes to go, ACU held just a 65-62 advantage
- Johnson and Dennis Flowers III hit back-to-back huge three pointers to start the jello jiggling
- ACU iced the game by nailing nine of ten free throws down the stretch
- The win secures the regular season championship and the top seed in the upcoming GSAC tournament
Thoughts from Coach Rutter
"Great win. I am really proud of our team. We have not played well at Menlo in some time."
"The guys seemed ready to go and were locked in from the start. We played well but missed some opportunities and Menlo outscored us 9-2 to finish the half."
"We were sloppy to start the second half as well and turned it over a bunch. We responded well and had a nice finish to the game. We were not rattled, tightened up our defensive effort, took care of the ball, and made our free throws."
Up Next
The Firestorm will return to Arizona to face OUAZ in Surprise on Saturday at 2:00 pm.
