Story by NAIA

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – (Box score) No. 4 seed Arizona Christian finished off the first day of the 2016 Buffalo Funds-NAIA Division I Men’s Basketball National Championship with a 84-77 win over fifth-seeded William Carey (Miss.). The Firestorm will face top-seeded Georgetown (Ky.) on Friday, March 18 at 12:30 p.m.

Chris Sterling led the Firestorm with 21 points, four rebounds and three assists, while Brandon Newman added 18 points and four rebounds. Bobby Gray paced the rebounding effort with eight to couple with 11 points and five assists, and Sharif Watson chipped in with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.

“We looked a little nervous after sitting all day long watching games and waiting for our chance to play,” said Arizona Christian head coach Jeff Rutter. “We did okay going inside, but we just did not do it very often. It really came down to getting stops at the timely moments and getting rebounds.”

Arizona Christian (23-8) shot 53.3 percent in the first half (16 of 30), including a 9-for-16 clip (.563) from beyond the arc, to take a 46-41 halftime lead. After trailing by as much as nine points (21-12) at the 13:31 mark of the first half, the Firestorm turned that into a nine-point cushion thanks to a 12-0 run over 2:39. Consecutive three-point shots by Mishima Gray followed a trey by Sterling for a 40-31 advantage with 4:22 until half.

William Carey erased the halftime deficit and claimed its first lead of the second half at the 14:37 mark on a three-point shot by Troy Salvant. Neither team would lead by more than four points over the next nine minutes before Arizona Christian was able to pull away.

A three-point shot by Newman with 4:30 to play proved to be the deciding basket of the game, giving the Firestorm the lead for good. Following a basket by the Crusaders’ Cory Jackson with 2:48 to play, Bobby Gray and Chris Sterling added pairs of free throws for a four-point cushion. Sterling hit six free throws down the stretch as Arizona Christian made 11-of-14 to finish off the victory.

Arizona Christian cooled off in the second half, shooting just 33.3 percent from the field, but finished the game 13 of 30 (.433) from three-point range. William Carey managed five three-point connections on 20 attempts (.250) and shot 42.4 percent (28 of 66) for the game. The Crusaders posted a 42-40 rebounding advantage and recorded 11 steals, four each coming from Jackson and Donta Pittman.

"I was really impressed with our effort tonight, especially coming back from a nine-point deficit early in the game,” said William Carey head coach Steve Knight. “I thought we played pretty well and had our opportunities to take control of the game. We had a lead and made some stops, but couldn't cash in when we needed to. I thought our effort was there tonight, but Arizona Christian is a really good team and they played a good game.”

William Carey finishes its season with a 20-12 record.

Game notes:
Arizona Christian – Becomes the seventh higher seed today (in 8 games) to defeat the lower-seeded team... The Firestorm move to 2-3 all-time in the NAIA National Championship… Entered the championship losing three of its last five games on the year… Arizona Christian tied a season-high with 13 3-pointers made… Attempted 35 free throws, which marked the 13th time (in 31 games) Arizona Christian has gone over 30 FT tries… Sharif Watson finished with two blocks in the game, which pushed his total to 12 games this season with two-or-more swats.

William Carey – Crusaders opened the season with a 5-8 record, the worst record through the opening 13 games for any team at the NAIA championship...Entered the National Championship with the lowest free throw percentage of any team in the field (.639)...William Carrey falls to 2-8 in the NAIA First Round and 2-10 all-time in the tournament...Southern States Athletic Conference Player of the Year Donta Pittman finished with season-highs in field goals (10) and field goal attempts (21)...Cory Jackson recorded his fourth double-double of the season.