FULLERTON, Calif. - The Ottawa University Arizona men's basketball team fell on Saturday afternoon to the University of Los Angeles College of Divinity Cubs by a final of 71-70. It was the final game of the 2017 Hope Thanksgiving Classic; hosted by Hope International University in Fullerton, California.
With the loss, the Spirit fall to 2-6 overall on the year. With the victory, the Cubs from the University of Los Angeles College of Divinity improves to 2-2 overall.
"We are receiving daily lessons on how difficult winning is," said OUAZ head men's basketball coach Matt Keeley. "The game rewards effort and our effort was not consistently good enough to win the game today."
Keeley continued, "We don't have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We will regroup and go back to getting better on Monday."
The Spirit struggled to shoot the ball and finished with 20 turnovers on Saturday afternoon, which is never the recipe for a victory. In the first half, OUAZ shot 9-of-21 from the field and finished 2-for-7 from beyond the three-point arc. The Spirit stayed in the game, by knocking down their free-throws; finishing the half 9-of-11. At halftime, the Cubs from the University of Los Angeles College of Divinity led the Spirit 34-29.
In the second half, both teams shot similar from the field but OUAZ finished 1-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc and the Spirit missed five free-throws. In the final couple minutes of the game, the Spirit and Cubs went back-and-forth. Tanner Riley (JR/Salt Lake City, UT); who led OUAZ with 39 points, knocked down a free-throw with a minute and nine seconds remaining to give OUAZ the 70-69 lead. OUAZ's Chandler Solis (JR/Litchfield Park, AZ) commited a foul with a second left to play, sending Shaquille Barker to the free-throw line for a pair of shots. He made both shots and the Cubs sealed the late 71-70 victory over OUAZ.
Besides Riley's 39 points, OUAZ also received a nice showing from Matthew McClain (SR/Charleston, SC). He finished with 15 points and nine rebounds in 31 minutes of action.
The Spirit men's basketball team will next be in action this coming Thursday at 6pm Arizona time, when OUAZ travels to Texas to square off with NCAA Division I; University of Texas – San Antonio Roadrunners in an exhibition game.
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About Ottawa University
Founded in 1865, Ottawa University prepares professional and liberal arts graduates for lifetimes of personal significance, vocational fulfillment and service to God and humanity within a Christ-inspired community of grace and open inquiry. Ottawa University is a comprehensive, not-for-profit educational institution serving 3,000 students through its residential campuses in Ottawa, Kan., and Surprise, Ariz., and adult campuses in Overland Park, Kan.; Phoenix, Queen Creek and Surprise, Ariz.; Brookfield, Wis.; Jeffersonville, Ind.; as well as online. For more information, visit www.ottawa.edu.
For more information about OUAZ athletics, visit http://www.ottawa.edu/ouaz/athletics. Follow OUAZ athletics on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/OUAZSpiritAthletics/ and on Twitter twitter.com/OUAZSpirit.
