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Arizona Christian University

OFFICIAL ATHLETIC SITE OF ARIZONA CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY
Wright pumped
MSH Visual
71
Grace (IN) GRIN 29-6
73
Winner Arizona Christian ACU 30-4
Grace (IN) GRIN
29-6
71
Final
73
Arizona Christian ACU
30-4
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Grace (IN) GRIN 27 44 71
Arizona Christian ACU 32 41 73

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | | Tim Gooszen

Arizona Christian Beats Grace At Line, Advances To NAIA Fab Four

Kansas City, Mo.- A tight quarterfinal between Grace and Arizona Christian in the 87th Annual NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship came down to free throws as the Firestorm nailed 23 of 27 attempts to hold on for the win.  The victory sends the Firestorm to the Fab Four for just the second time in program history.

Game Info
  • Game score: Arizona Christian - 73, Grace (IN) - 71
  • Records: Arizona Christian - 30-4, Grace (IN) - 29-6
  • NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 3, Grace (IN) - 7
  • Location: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO

ACU Stats For The Day
Inside the Box Score
  • The game was a back and forth for the majority of the contest
  • Anthony Howell scored the first four points of the afternoon
  • ACU kept the lead until GC moved ahead 12-11 at the 12:27 mark
  • Wright moved ACU right back in front before the Lancers reclaimed the lead with a 5-0 run
  • Up 17-13, Grace held their largest advantage of the game
  • Silva, Gonzalez, and Dunkley all nailed three pointers with two giving the Firestorm back the lead
  • With 94 seconds in the half, a jumper by Amaechi Chukwu gave ACU a 30-23 edge- their biggest lead of the half
  • No player for either team reached double digit scoring in the first 20 minutes of action
  • For the first 15 minutes of the second half the lead did not grow larger than four points on either side
  • Tied 56-56 with 4:38 left, Wright knocked down a three pointer
  • ACU never trailed again
  • In the final 46 seconds, the Firestorm converted a perfect 10-10 free throws
  • The Firestorm head back to the semifinals for the first time since 2022
  • ACU pushes their win streak to 16 games

Thoughts from Coach Rutter
"I'm excited to continue playing with this group.  Been a fun year with lots of improvement throughout.  Grace is so efficient on offense (second in FG% and first in assists).  We did a great job defensively and on the boards and that put us in position to win.  It wasn't a very good offensive game for us but we did hit all our free throws down the stretch."

Up Next
On Monday, Arizona Christian will compete in their semifinal against NAIA number one ranked and top overall seed in the tournament the College of Idaho.  COI beat Georgetown (KY) 83-71 to cap off their run through the Naismith Quadrant.  ACU and COI will compete in the semifinal on Moday at 5:00 pm Central/ 3 :00 pm Pacific.


 
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