Glendale, Ariz.- On Tuesday evening, Arizona Christian, the top seed at the Glendale site, survived the upset bid of Corban in the NAIA National Championship First Round. The Warrior defense held the Firestorm offense to their lowest scoring total of the season but ACU hit just enough of their shots down the stretch to move on to the second round.
Game Info
- Game score: Arizona Christian- 61, Corban- 59
- Records: Arizona Christian- 26-4, Corban- 20-11
- NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian - 2, Corban- not ranked
- Location: ACU Events Center, Arizona Christian University, Glendale, AZ
ACU Stats For The Day
Inside the Box Score
- Corban scored first before ACU took the lead
- Several lead changes and ties followed
- With 3:23 left in the half, Blackwell scored on a fast break for a four-point cushion
- But the Warriors had other ideas and actually were ahead 31-30 at the break
- For Blackwell, he scored 11 of his 17 points in the first 20 minutes
- Out of the break, the Warriors held the Firestorm scoreless for just under seven minutes
- Corban led by as many as 11 twice
- ACU then held Corban scoreless for a five and a half minute span
- The Firestorm misfired on their first 12 three point attempts before Flowers finally connected on two in a span of three attempts
- With 4:31 remaining, Davis knocked down a pair of free throws for a 51-50 ACU lead
- The Firestorm held the top score from there
Thoughts from Coach Rutter
"I am proud of our guys for not giving up. I expected some rust as we have just played once in a couple weeks. This group has not been able to play much together with all the injuries we have dealt with so we are not as sharp as we should be. We played great defense and that put us in position to win. Mikah and Dennis were really the only two that had good offensive games and they came up with some timely baskets."
Up Next
On short turnaround, Arizona Christian will now face Antelope Valley (the site's number two seed) on Wednesday evening at 5:30 pm. The winner will advance to the final site of the NAIA National Championships in Kansas City, MO.
