Surprise, Ariz.- No. 2 ranked Arizona Christian put the cherry on top of their third straight GSAC conference regular season championship by pulling through a tough 78-71 game for an eight game win streak.
Mikah Blackwell led ACU with 18 points and 9 rebounds, and
Angelo Johnson added 13 points of his own.
Dennis Flowers III added 8 points 3 rebounds. Off the bench,
Shaun Wahlstrom chipped in 12 points and 8 boards and
KeyVaughn Williams contributed 8 points.
Game Info
- Game score: Arizona Christian- 78, Ottawa - 71
- Records: Arizona Christian - 24-4, 15-3 GSAC, Ottawa - 18-9, 10-8 GSAC
- NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 4, Ottawa - Top 20
- Location: Faith Arena, Ottawa University, Surprise, AZ
ACU Stats For The Day
Inside the Box Score
- It was a tight game to start up until the 11 minute mark
- ACU would stretch their lead to 12 points
- OUAZ battled back ending the half with a 12-2 point run
- ACU held a 28-26 edge at the break
- OUAZ and ACU would continue to battle and OUAZ had their largest lead of 5 points
- ACU answered back with a 16-4 point run leading by 10 points
- OUAZ rallied back each time keeping the game within striking distance
- In the last five minutes OUAZ got the game within 4 points twice
- ACU held the lead for the remainder of the game and answered every OUAZ run
- For the game, the Firestorm converted 14 of 21 free throw attempts and shot 49.1% from the field
Thoughts from Coach Rutter
"We did a nice job defensively throughout much of the game in terms of disrupting OUAZ's offense. We were stagnant on offense in the first half and got stuck on 26 pts for quite awhile. We did a much better job in the second half getting the ball moving and the result was much better shooting. I believe we had all but one of our assists in the second half. It is no coincidence when we look for each other and pass more than dribble, the shooting percentages go up (20% better in second half). We will continue to get better offensively and work some kinks out, but I saw some nice things in the second half."
"The most impressive stat is that this was our fifth straight road win against five very good teams That is a testament to the way these guys compete on the defensive end."
Up Next
The Firestorm will head to California where Hope International will host the GSAC Men's Basketball tournament. As the top seed, the Firestorm will have bye for the first round. On Friday, ACU will play the winner of Thursday's game between Westmont and OUAZ. Tip-off is at 5:00 pm (PST) on Friday.
