Glendale, Ariz.- Heading into the final week of the regular season, Arizona Christian Men's Basketball finds themselves in a three way tie with The Master's and Hope International.  A win on Thursday would go a long way toward the Firestorm climbing into at least a share of their fourth straight regular season GSAC championship.  ACU will honor their seniors before their game on Saturday.

Game Details
Hope International- Thursday, February 22 at 7:30 pm
Vanguard - Saturday, February 24 at 2:00 pm
Arizona Christian University
ACU Events Center - Glendale, AZ
Tickets are only available for purchase online- Click Here
Pricing- General Admission ($10), Senior 65+ ($5), Active Military/Veteran ($5), ACU Alumni ($5), Kids ages 10 and under (free)

Live Coverage
Live Video - https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/
Live Stats - https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

Coach Rutter's Thoughts
"Should be an exciting week in the GSAC.  Our guys have put us in position to compete for a conference championship yet we are humble enough to realize 1st-6th place is possible depending on how this week shakes out.  We have two national tournament quality teams coming to town, it should be two great games."

Arizona Christian
The NAIA ranked number 24 Firestorm (19-7, 8-4 GSAC) kept their regular season championship hopes alive when they beat OUAZ 85-65 on Saturday.  Anthony Howell led with 17 points and 8 rebounds.  Trent Hudgens added 14 points.  The next win for ACU will become the tenth time in Rutter's 12 years that the Firestorm have won 20 or more games.

2023-24 ACU Top Players
Hudgens- 14 points, 2.8 assists
Dennis Flowers III- 13.7 points, 3.2 assists
Paul Hayden- 12 points, 48 three pointers
Mikah Blackwell- 11 points, 6 rebounds
Howell- 9.4 points, 4.8 rebounds
Dominic Gonzalez- 7.1 points

Series Notes
The series dates all the way back to the 1984-85 season with Hope International holding a 34-18 all-time edge.  Since Arizona Christian joined the NAIA in 2009-10, the Firestorm and Royals are evenly split at 13-13.  Earlier this season, ACU outlasted HIU 119-111 in triple overtime on the road.

Against Vanguard, ACU holds a 15-8 all-time lead.  The Firestorm have won seven of the eight meetings including the last two.  Only three times in the series has a team scored 90 or more points in a game.  ACU scored a series high 95 points in their first meeting in the ACU Events Center back in the 2019-20 season.

Hope International
Since they lost the overtime thriller to ACU, the Royals (19-7, 8-4 GSAC) have won a GSAC best five straight games.  On Saturday, they defeated The Master's 67-65.  Gaven Ramirez topped HIU with 15 points and 12 rebounds.  Grant Sii contributed 14 points.  On the year, Ramirez leads with 14.6 points and 5.5 rebounds.

Vanguard
The Lions (14-11, 4-8 GSAC) beat Life Pacific 105-77 on Saturday.  Phillip Willis had 20 points.  Anthony Tello and Preston Sims both added 15 points.  As a team, the Lions shot 68.8% from the field for the game.  On Thursday night, Vanguard will play at OUAZ.

Roll Storm!