MSH Visual

Box Score

Arizona Christian ACU 25-8

Freed-Hardeman (TN) FHU 33-1

Arizona Christian ACU

25-8

Final

Mar. 21, 2026

Freed-Hardeman (TN) FHU

33-1

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Arizona Christian ACU	36	42	78
Freed-Hardeman (TN) FHU	34	45	79

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 3/21/2026 5:18:00 PM | Tim Gooszen

Late Rally A Point Short In NAIA Quarterfinals

Kansas City, Mo.- Trailing by nine points with 2:28 to play, Arizona Christian rallied to within one but came up just short to NAIA number one ranked Freed-Hardeman in the quarterfinals of the 2026 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship. Ese Onakpoma poured in a game high 27 points.

Game Info

Game score: Freed-Hardeman - 79, Arizona Christian - 78
Records: Arizona Christian - 25-8, Freed-Hardeman - 33-1
NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 12, Freed-Hardeman - 1
Location: Municipal Auditorium, Kansas City, MO

ACU Stats For The Day

Ese Onakpoma - 27 points, 6 boards, 4 assists
Shaud Bradley - 14 points
Sabien Cain - 9 points
Drew Goodline - 8 points
Jay Lee - 12 rebounds

Inside the Box Score

The top seeded Lions jumped out early and built leads of seven points twice
Goodline nailed a three to force the first tie of the game at 29-29
Onakpoma gave ACU their first lead of the afternoon at 31-30 with a layup
The teams exchanged leads and ACU took a 36-34 lead to the locker room
Onakpoma scored 11 first half points
Zack Reighard was the next closest to double digits at eight points
The Firestorm extended out to a seven point advantage (46-39) with 16:33 to play
But an 11-0 run by the Lions swung momentum and the lead in their favor
FHU built up a 10 point advantage and were up nine as the game went under 2:30 left
Onakpoma scored the next five points and seven of the next nine ACU points
A pair of free throws gave FHU a 79-76 edge with 25 seconds to go
Goodline laid home an offensive rebound with 2.7 seconds but that was the final tally
ACU held a 44-33 edge at the free throw line but FHU made seven more field goals
Arizona Christian ends the year with the most made (652) and taken (906) free throws in the NAIA