• Game score: Westmont - 73, Arizona Christian - 65
• Records: Arizona Christian - 27-4, Westmont - 17-13
• NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 4, Westmont - not ranked
• Location: Darling Pavilion, Hope International University, Fullerton, CA

• Flowers III - 13 points, 3 steals
• Angelo Johnson - 11 points
• Bryce Davis - 9 points
• Paul Hayden - 8 points, 3-4 shooting
• Xander Bowers - 7 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals, block

• Flowers started the scoring with a layup and the Warriors answered with a layup of their own
• Following a Westmont 5-2 lead, Arizona Christian answered with the next six points
• Nine ties and seven lead changes were the result of a back-and-forth first half and a 30-29 ACU halftime lead
• Both teams shot just over 40% in the first 20 minutes while combining to commit just seven turnovers
• Out of the gate in the second half, Westmont scored just 12 seconds in
• A free throw from Flowers retied the game at 31-31
• Just over 60 seconds into the second half the Warriors grabbed the top score for good
• The turnover bug and shooting 36.1% in half number two cost the Firestorm the ability to stay with the Warriors

Thoughts from Coach Rutter

"We knew Westmont at full strength is national tournament team good, so we were expecting a good battle.  I was pleased with how hard we played in the first half.  We came out of the gate slow in the second half.  They got to the rim a little too easily.  We turned the ball over six out of eight possessions and Westmont took advantage.  I was not pleased with our response.  I thought we tried to do too much individually instead of relying on each other, and the deficit grew.  We have not lost a game in six weeks, of course we would love to keep playing in the tournament, but perhaps it is a humbling moment to emphasize how much we need to rely on each other.  Particularly in moments of adversity." 

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