Phoenix, AZ- Trailing at the half, Arizona Christian turned up the defensive heat in the second half for the 86-66 win over Benedictine-Mesa on Saturday.  Senior Matt Willkomm scored a team high 17 points while Junior Callum Lawson secured a game high 15 rebounds.

A three point shooting contest started the game with five of the first six combined baskets coming from behind the arc.  Willkomm drained the first and third three pointers of the day.  BenMesa made the second and fourth three pointers and first two pointer for an 8-6 edge.

Senior Sam Finley dialed in a three and gave ACU a 9-8 edge.

But the Redhawks (8-7) stayed hot from behind the line and made three more threes to move in front for what turned out to be the rest of the half.

The Firestorm (12-2) found themselves down 41-37 at break.  ACU spread the scoring as Willkomm, Finley, Senior Andy Sessions, and Junior Torrian Epps all had six points.

Willkomm hit another three pointer two and a half minutes into the second half for a 43-42 ACU edge.  That was the last lead change of the game.

In fact, ten minutes into the second half Arizona Christian had only allowed Benedictine Mesa to score seven points.  After letting the Redhawks shoot 45.2% from the floor in the first half, ACU held BenMesa to just 22.9% shooting in the second half.

Behind the 17 points from Willkomm, Finley scored 16 points.  Epps ended with 12 points.  Senior Patson Siame contributed 10 points.

The Firestorm not only closed out the 2017 portion of their schedule but also the non-conference slate as well.  When ACU returns to action in 2018, they will open GSAC play by hosting Vanguard on Saturday at 4:00 pm.