Phoenix, AZ- Arizona Christian opened their 2015-16 Men's Basketball campaign with a 107-89 win over Life Pacific College on Saturday night.  The teams decided to turn their game into a free throw shooting contest as the two teams combined for an incredible 98 free throw attempts thanks to 67 combined fouls.  Junior Chris Sterling opened his Firestorm career by scoring a game high 24 points.

Sterling started the scoring and his time in an ACU uniform with a three pointer to give Arizona Christian the early 3-0 edge.

About a minute later, Senior Brandon Newman toed the free throw line for the first time on the season and knocked down his first two shots.  Twenty-three seconds later he was fouled attempting a three pointer and headed to the line again.  Little did anyone know that would quickly become the common theme of the night.

The Firestorm (1-0) built a 16-9 lead capped by two Sterling free throws and looked ready to just run away with the contest.

But the Warriors (0-1), playing their first basketball game as a school since 2007, answered back with an 11-0 run to grab a 20-16 lead.

ACU countered with an 11-0 run of their own to take back the lead highlighted by five points from Newman and four points from Senior Bobby Gray.  The Firestorm would not allow even another tie the remainder of the night.

At the break, ACU held a 62-39 lead on the strength of hitting 28-38 free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes.  LPC was whistled for an astounding 23 fouls in the first half (versus just eight for ACU).  Newman scored 19 of his 21 total points in the half on 10-12 shooting from the line and draining three 3 pointers.

In the second half, action played out the same way with much of the half spent at the free throw lines.  Arizona Christian attempted 29 free throws as a team while Life Pacific headed to the charity stripe 26 times in the final 20 minutes.

Five Warriors fouled out while just Newman fouled out for the Firestorm but an additional combined five players for the teams were sitting on four fouls each at game's end.

Joining Sterling and Newman in the 20 points or more category was Gray with 22 points after converting 16 of 18 free throw attempts.

Head Coach Jeff Rutter stated, "It's great to get the season started and get to compete against someone else.  This is a fun team to work with.  We had some good stretches on offense when the ball was moving and we were pretty efficient (10 assists, 2 turnovers at half)."

Rutter added, "I thought we played the score at times and didn't play very well at either end of the court in the second half.  We have the makings of a pretty good defensive team but we had long stretches where we did not execute defensively.  Lots to work on this week as we prepare for two outstanding opponents.  Life Pacific did a good job.  They have really good size and their kids played really hard.  I thought they outworked us."

Next week the Firestorm will head up to the state of Utah for two exhibitions with Dixie State and Brigham Young Universities.  ACU will play the Storm of Dixie State on Thursday at 7:30 pm.