Phoenix, AZ- Hot shooting throughout- especially to begin the game- sent #10 Arizona Christian past Vanguard 80-71 without even a tie on Saturday afternoon.  Senior Sharif Watson led all scorers and rebounders with 22 points and 13 rebounds.

The first three and half minutes of the game started slow as the team combined for one point- an ACU free throw by Senior Mike Navar.  But the Firestorm (17-3, 5-2 GSAC) quickly turned that 1-0 score into a 9-0 lead and built from there.

After missing their first two shots, ACU converted nine of their next ten shots to begin the game shooting 75% from the field (9-12).  On the other hand, the Lions (12-6, 1-5 GSAC) opened the afternoon shooting just 18.8% (3-16).  The shooting differences allowed Arizona Christian to grab a 24-7 lead with 9:37 remaining in the first half.  Watson accounted for nine of those first 24 ACU points.

By the end of the half and at one point holding as large as a 22 point advantage, the Firestorm found themselves up 41-26.  They shot 50% from the field overall but were 7-9 from two point country.  Vanguard ended the first 20 minutes shooting 28% from the field.

Watson produced a first half that consisted of 13 points (only player in double figures) and seven rebounds.

In the early stages of the second half, VU cut the deficit to nine on three occasions before ACU countered by growing their lead to as large as 24 points- 71-47 with 5:42 remaining.

Vanguard proved how dangerous they can be as they closed out the game with a 24-9 run to account for the final single digit score.

Joining Watson in double figures for ACU was Sophomore Trevor Clay (who scored 13 of his 16 points in the second half), Senior Bobby Gray with 13 points, and Senior Brandon Newman and Junior Chris Sterling both reaching 10 points.

The Lions were topped by Senior Jaamon Echols- the GSAC's leading scorer- who reached exactly his 21 point scoring average with 14 of those points coming after the half.

Head Coach Jeff Rutter stated, "We got off to another great start defensively tonight.  Vanguard didn't shoot well early, they got into a rhythm in the second half and had several big runs.  They are a good team and we knew at some point they'd get going.  We were fortunate to have a big enough lead to hold them off."

Rutter continued with his postgame comments with the following- "Trevor was really good tonight, and Sharif made some nice plays around the basket.  Mike did a nice job guarding some of their smaller guys. Some good stuff tonight, but we need to take better care or the ball and make better decisions down the stretch."

On Thursday, the Firestorm will conclude their first half of GSAC play on the road when they meet up with a most improved William Jessup squad who already have two more wins in GSAC play than all of last year.  Tip-off in Rocklin will take place at 8:30 pm (AT)/ 7:30 pm (PT).  As for Vanguard, they host Westmont on Tuesday at 7:30 pm (PT).