Box Score KANSAS CITY, Missouri – The 20th ranked Arizona Christian Firestorm (25-9) saw their historic season come to a heartbreaking close on Friday morning by a final 61-59 to the third seeded California State San Marcos Cougars in the Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division 1 Men's Basketball National Championship Second Round in Kansas City, Missouri.
"The thing what standouts in this loss, is us shooting 14% from the field in the second half," said ACU head coach Jeff Rutter. "Obviously that isn't going to get it done. We defended them well enough to win, but we needed to make shots."
Senior guard Charles King started right where he left off from Wednesday morning; knocking down a pair of three pointers and grabbing a rebound to help propel the Firestorm to an early 6-2 lead. King then knocked down two free-throws to help ACU out to an 8-2 lead; scoring all of the Firestorms eight points to begin the game.
Midway through the first half, ACU led by eight points at 18-10; while shooting 5-for-20 from the field. The Cougars also struggled to start from the field, shooting just 4-of-18.
At the end of the first half, the Firestorm had shot 45% from the field and 70% from the free throw line. Cal State San Marcos headed into the locker room, after shooting 33% from the field in the first half, 20% from beyond the three-point arc and 50% from the free-throw line.
The second half saw the teams flip flop; not just ends of the court, but shooting wise as well. The Firestorm looked sloppy in the first few minutes, as they turned the ball over a few times and saw the Cougars outscore them 4-0 in the first minute of the second half.
Arizona Christian struggled in the second half, shooting a season worst 14% (5-for-34) from the field and going 0-for-10 from beyond the three-point arc. The Firestorm also struggled at the charity stripe, shooting just 8-for-14.
The news got worse for the Firestorm, as guard Brandon Newman went down with ankle injury at with 4:32 left in game. Things would not get better for the Firestorm; even when Brandon Newman returned with 2:02 left in the game.
The Cougars shot 45% in the second half, but struggled like the Firestorm both beyond the three-point arc and at the free-throw line. Cal-State San Marcos shot 2-for-10 from deep and just 7-of-16 from the free-throw line.
The Cougars; who hadn't held a lead since the 19:43 mark in the first half, tied the game for the first time at 59-59 with 1:54 left in the game.
Akachi Okugo would make two free throws with 56 seconds remaining in the game, to give the Cougars a 61-59. Cal-State San Marcos claimed the lead for just the second time in the game and would hold on to that lead for the victory.
The Firestorm had one final chance at a game tying bucket, but Bobby Gray's jumper with four seconds left in the game missed short and Sharif Watson's tip-in attempt hit off the back of the rim to end the game and the season for the Firestorm.
Arizona Christian set program firsts this year, with their first ever postseason victory on Wednesday against Georgetown College and they also won the most single season games in program history; with 25.
"I am very pleased with the growth and development of this young group," said ACU head coach Jeff Rutter. "We got a taste of some success, but we haven't really won anything yet. It should be a hungry group and we have a lot of improving to do.
The 20th ranked Firestorm now head into the offseason, fresh off their most decorated season yet. Stay tuned to acufirestorm.com all offseason long for constant news on player signings and the 2015-16 schedule release.
