SURPRISE, Ariz. – For the first two seasons of the program's history the OUAZ men's basketball team called a local high school home. That all changed on Saturday night as the Spirit played their first-ever game in their brand new Faith Arena and they gave the home crowd an effort to be proud of in earning a 79-76 comeback victory over Embry-Riddle.
 
After the two teams played a first half that featured six ties and nine lead changes that ended with the squads deadlocked at 36-36, it was Embry-Riddle (1-3) that opened things up early in the second half. The Eagles went on a 15-2 run to open a 57-45 lead with 11:58 to play and seemed to once again have the Spirit's number for the third straight meeting between the two programs.
 
This night would be different as the home crowd sparked a rally from OUAZ in which the Spirit scored 17 of the game's next 21 points to give them a 64-61 advantage. That run would extend to 34-19 to close the game and featured contributions from just about everyone.
 
"I felt our guys really earned one tonight and played well enough to win," OUAZ head coach Matt Keeley said after the game. "I told the guys a lot of teams can come back, but tough teams come back and win, and tonight we were a tough team."
 
While Shazier Lawson and Brian Carey hit the key baskets down the stretch, it was the overall game from Dimetres Moore that stole the show. The junior that came to OUAZ on the dream of one day playing in a brand-new arena finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds, and a school record nine steals. Moore hit 8 of 15 from the field while also getting a pair of assists.
 
"It was poetic that Dimetres played such a key hand in us winning this game tonight," Keeley added of Moore. "He has been here from the start and got to see when we were point at grass fields."
 
When asked about his performance on Saturday, Moore commented, "I didn't know the stats, I was just playing to beating Embry-Riddle for the first time in three years." He added about playing in Faith Arena for the first time, "It meant everything. I was honestly amazed we were given the opportunity to play here."
 
Lawson added 22 points, including 14 in the second half. He converted an and-one with 2:00 to play that gave the Spirit its largest lead of the game at 74-69. Lawson also grabbed nine rebounds with three steals and a blocked shot late in the game to help preserve the victory.
 
Carey scored 19 points and hit a deep three with 4:49 to play to put the Spirit back in front after ERAU had retaken the lead following the initial OUAZ spurt. He also made 3 of 4 at the foul line in the final 10 seconds while setting a school record with 10 assists.
 
OUAZ took advantage of 19 ERAU turnovers by turning them into 28 points. The Spirit shot 48.3 percent from the field and had 40 points in the paint.
 
In two previous meeting with the Eagles, OUAZ had been outscored 174-123 in losing both games by at least 25 points.
 
The Spirit will now travel to Orem, Utah, where they will play an exhibition against Utah Valley on Tuesday at 7 p.m. They return to Faith Arena on November 16 at 2 p.m. against Benedictine Mesa.