COSTA MESA, Calif. – The OUAZ men's basketball team opened a four-game road stretch by falling to No. 15 Vanguard 79-63 on Thursday night as the team's returned to Golden State Athletic Conference play.
 
Looking to hand Vanguard (15-0, 3-0 GSAC) its first loss of the season, OUAZ (2-10, 0-3) was never able to pull ahead of the Lions. The game changed midway through the first half when Vanguard used a 21-9 run to build a 39-23 halftime advantage.
 
Down 20 with 11:13 to play, the Spirit would mount a 17-8 run to pull within 11 at the 4:11 mark of the second half. That would be as close as it would get as Vanguard held OUAZ to just two baskets down the stretch.
 
Tanner Riley led the Spirit with 18 points on 6 of 12 shooting. He scored 15 of those points in the second half while also ending the game with four rebounds and two steals.
 
OUAZ finished the game shooting 44.0 percent from the field and hitting on 5 of 19 from beyond the arc. They scored 24 points in the paint but were hurt by 26 turnovers that resulted in 32 points for the Lions. Vanguard also got 17 second chance points to help overcome 38.9 percent shooting.
 
Marcus Williams added 15 points and three makes from beyond the arc for the Spirit. Dimetres Moore scored 10 points and Brian King Jr. totaled seven points and 10 rebounds.
 
Vanguard has three players score in double figures with Malachi Hoosein leading them with 22.
 
OUAZ now heads for El Cajon, California where they will face San Diego Christian on Saturday at 4 p.m. MST.