Glendale, Ariz.- For the fourth straight year and tenth time overall, Arizona Christian has advanced to the final site of Kansas City, MO, after beating Oregon Tech on Saturday in the 2025 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship Second Round, presented by Ballogy.  The ACU defense held the OIT offense (that came in averaging 86.4 points) to just 52 points.

Game Info

• Game score: Arizona Christian - 83, Oregon Tech - 52
• Records: Arizona Christian - 28-4, Oregon Tech - 23-8
• NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 3, Oregon Tech - 25
• Location: ACU Events Center, Arizona Christian University, Glendale, AZ

ACU Stats For The Day

• Ese Onakpoma - 21 points
• Jalik Dunkley - 14 points, 8 rebounds
• Arik Nicholas - 12 points, 3 blocks
• Dominic Gonzalez - 11 points
• Anthony Howell - 10 points
• Tucker Molina - 8 points

Inside the Box Score

• OIT hit a three pointer to open the scoring 
• Gonzalez made two free throws for create a 4-4 tie
• The Hustlin' Owls went up 6-4 before Howell scored and Dunkley threw down a dunk for an 8-6 edge
• Oregon Tech forced ties at 8-8 and 10-10
• But Onakpoma nailed a pair of free throws and the Firestorm took the lead for the rest of the night 
• At the break, ACU was up 34-24 
• No player in the game reach double digit scoring in the first 20 minutes of action
• Gonzalez, playing for the final time at home in his five year career, scored the first six points of the second half (including a three pointer and one)
• The game was never closer than 13 points the rest of the way or 20 points after ten minutes left
• Fifty-two points by OIT was their lowest scoring output of the season
• In the overall NAIA field, the top seed and number four seed in all four quadrants advanced to the final site to face each other but only two number twos and one number three moved on
• ACU MBB is the only GSAC team to reach the final site in the MBB and WBB brackets

Thoughts from Coach Rutter
"We played hard for the entire game.  Just so impressed with our guys for how hard they competed.  I have a lot of respect for Oregon Tech and know how good they are.  There are so many ways that they can hurt you.  Our guys really executed the game plan and contested most of their shots.  They can be a dominant rebounding team and we did a really good job on the glass (39-27).  We are excited to head to Kansas City and get a chance to keep playing."


Up Next
The Firestorm draw the University of Cumberlands (KY) in the Round of 16 at Municipal Auditorium In Kansas City, MO, on Thursday at 1:00 pm Central/ 11:00 am Arizona.  ACU will play in the first game of each round if they continue to win.