THE AGENDA
The OUAZ men's basketball team will bring the first half of the Golden State Athletic Conference play to a close this week as they host a pair of games. The Spirit welcome Menlo to town on Thursday for a 7 p.m. game at Paradise Honors High School. On Saturday, No. 24 William Jessup visits Surprise for a 2 p.m. game at Willow Canyon High School.
Both games are the second of a doubleheader with the women's game tipping two hours before the men's game starts. Admission is free to all OUAZ home basketball games this season. At Willow Canyon, fans are encouraged to park on the south side of the gymnasium and enter the building through the west doors.
OUAZ will broadcast both games live on the NAIA Network and through the Spirit Game Central portal. The NAIA Network is available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku devices by searching NAIA. Live stats will also be available during each game. Links for all live coverage is available at
OUAZSpirit.com/live.
ABOUT THE SPIRIT
OUAZ returns home for the first time in 2019 with a 3-12 overall record and looking to snap a two-game losing skid. The Spirit are tied for eighth in the GSAC with a 1-5 record in league games. They are 2-3 at home this season and 7-3 in their past 10 games at home dating back to last season.
The Spirit will start the week averaging 73.4 points per game and shooting 41.2 percent from the field. They make 6.9 threes per game by shooting 28.9 percent from beyond the arc. OUAZ distributes 11.4 assists per game with a 0.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.
OUAZ opponents are scoring 85.3 points per game by shooting 44.9 percent overall and 32.3 percent from beyond the arc. Along with allowing 8.0 3-pointers per game, OUAZ gives up 44.4 rebounds while grabbing 37.7 themselves. The Spirit force 14.7 turnovers per game and average 6.7 steals and 1.6 blocked shots.
The Spirit are led in scoring by
Brian King Jr. and his 16.7 points per game. King is eighth in the GSAC with that average and he has scored in double figures 12 times with two games of 30-plus. He is second on the team with 95 rebounds with a pair of 10-plus rebounding games and one double-double. King also has totaled 27 assists and 20 steals.
Tanner Riley provides the Spirit with 14.4 points per game with 10 games of scoring in double figures. He leads the team with 24 steals and has added 80 rebounds and 23 assists. Riley has a pair of double-doubles this season and is coming off 24 points and 12 rebounds in the loss at Life Pacific on Saturday.
Dimetres Moore scores 13.5 points per game and he has been in double figures 10 times with a team-leading four games of 20-plus points. He ranks fourth in the GSAC by shooting 60.4 percent from the field and he has collected 49 rebounds and 15 steals.
ABOUT MENLO
Menlo begins play this week with a 5-10 overall record and having dropped three of their last four outings. The Oaks are tied for eighth in the GSAC with a 1-5 record in conference games. They are averaging 73.8 points per game and allowing 75.5. John Paine scores 12.7 points per game to lead the team.
OUAZ will face the Oaks for the first time on Thursday. The teams will close the regular season with a game on February 23 in Atherton, California.
ABOUT WILLIAM JESSUP
William Jessup starts the week with a 13-5 overall record after sweeping a pair of home games last week. The Warriors are fourth in the GSAC at 4-2 and just one-game out of first. They are scoring 89.1 points per game and allowing 73.0 to the opposition. Keith Phillips leads the GSAC and ranks sixth in the NAIA by averaging 21.1 points per game.
OUAZ faced Jessup last season, losing 94-71 in Rocklin. The teams will meet again this season on February 21 in California.
LOOKING AHEAD
OUAZ is back on the road next week for a pair of conference games. They play at Westmont on January 24 in Santa Barbara, California and then visit the Master's on January 26 in Santa Clarita, California.
