THE AGENDA
The OUAZ men's basketball team gets back into Golden State Athletic Conference play this week as they begin a stretch of four straight games on the road. The slate begins on Thursday as the Spirit play at No. 15 Vanguard at 8:30 p.m. MST in Costa Mesa, Calif. OUAZ then heads to San Diego Christian on Saturday at 4 p.m. in El Cajon, Calif.

Live video of both games will be available through the host school's Game Central portal and on the NAIA Network. Live stats will also be available during each game. The NAIA Network is available on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, and Roku devices by searching NAIA. 

Links for all live coverage is available at OUAZSpirit.com/live.

ABOUT THE SPIRIT
OUAZ will begin 2019 with a 2-9 overall record and looking to snap a 3-game losing streak. The Spirit are coming off a 79-54 home loss to Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) on Saturday. They will lead the state of Arizona for the first time since mid-November with an 0-2 record in road games this season and 6-4 in their last 10 on the road dating back to last season.

The Spirit take to the road averaging 74.6 points per game by shooting 40.3 percent from the field. The Spirit have scored 70-plus points eight times this season and they are 2-1 when scoring 80-plus points in a game. They are averaging 7.0 made 3-pointers per game by shooting 28.9 percent from beyond the arc. OUAZ distributes 11.5 assists per game with a 0.7 assist-to-turnover ratio.

At the defensive end, OUAZ opponents are scoring 87.5 points per game and shooting 45.2 percent from the field. Eight times this season the opposition has scored 80-plus points with teams scoring 90-plus on four of those occasions. OUAZ is allowing 8.1 made threes per game at 33.5 percent. The Spirit grab 38.3 rebounds per game while giving up 45.4 to the opponents. Spirit opponents are committing 15.9 turnovers per game with OUAZ averaging 7.1 steals and getting 1.7 blocks per game.

Brian King Jr. continues to lead the Spirit in scoring at 17.5 points per game. That has him ranked seventh in the GSAC. King is one of three players in the GSAC with multiple 30-point scoring games this season. He has scored in double figures nine times and is tied for the team lead with 19 made threes. King shoots 42.0 percent from the field and 36.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Tanner Riley is averaging 14.2 points per game – 13th in the GSAC – and he has scored in double figures eight times. Riley shoots 40.3 percent from the field while leading the team with 21 steals. He has grabbed 57 rebounds and has 19 assists and three blocked shots.

Dimetres Moore is providing the Spirit 13.5 points per game with seven games in double figures. Over the past eight games, Moore has scored 20-plus points three times with a career-high 27 points against Westmont on December 1. He is 11th in the GSAC by making 40.6 percent from beyond the arc while grabbing 37 rebounds and 13 steals.

ABOUT VANGUARD
Vanguard has run off 14 straight wins to start the season. After not being ranked in the first two NAIA polls of the season, the Lions are No. 15 in the poll released on Wednesday. They are tied atop the GSAC standings with a 2-0 record in league play with an 8-0 overall record at home. Malachi Hoosein leads the Lions in scoring at 13.1 points per game.

Thursday is the first-ever meeting between the two programs with a second slated for February 2 in Surprise.

ABOUT SAN DIEGO CHRISTIAN
San Diego Christian enters the new year at 5-6 overall after splitting a pair of games at The Master's Tournaments last weekend. The Hawks are tied for fifth in the GSAC at 1-1 with their win coming at the buzzer against then-No. 2 The Master's. Derek Novsek is scoring 21.4 points per game to lead the conference and rank 25th in the NAIA.

San Diego Christian holds a 1-0 lead in the all-time series after an 86-75 win last season. The Hawks will visit Surprise on January 31 in the second meeting between the teams this season.

LOOKING AHEAD
Next week sees the Spirit back in Southern California when they bring this four-game road swing to an end. They play at Hope International on January 10 and then visit Life Pacific on January 12.