OUAZ MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES
• The OUAZ men's basketball team is back at Faith Arena this week for the first time in over a month as they host a pair of Golden State Athletic Conference games.

• The home week begins on Thursday, January 16, when the Spirit host No. 18 Hope International at 7 p.m. OUAZ then welcomes Life Pacific to Surprise on Saturday, January 18 at 2 p.m.

• OUAZ starts the week with a 5-9 overall record and they are tied for eighth in the GSAC standings with a 1-4 record in conference play. The Spirit are 3-4 at home in their first season playing in Faith Arena.

• Hope International will bring a 14-3 overall record into Thursday's game and riding a two-game winning streak. The 18th-ranked Royals are tied for third in the GSAC with a 3-2 conference record and they are 3-1 on the road.

• Life Pacific starts the week at 5-10 on the season and tied with the Spirit at 1-4 in GSAC games. The Warriors have dropped three straight and have a 0-5 record in road games.

• OUAZ is winless in four games against Hope International in program history, including an 0-1 record at home.

• The Spirit have gone 1-2 in three all-time meetings against Life Pacific and are 0-1 at home. LPU swept the two games played last season.

HOW TO FOLLOW
• Both games this week will be broadcast live on the OUAZ Digital Network and be available on the NAIA Network OTT app that is available on Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku devices. The OUAZ Digital Network is available on game day at OUAZSpirit.com/digital.

• Live stats will also be available during both games with links available at OUAZSpirit.com/live.

TIDBITS
• OUAZ is coming off a split of conference games last week in southern California. After falling at Vanguard, 89-73, the Spirit survived a rally from San Diego Christian to earn a 78-76 win in the program's first-ever overtime contest.

• Putting the ball in the basket has been a strength of this year's Spirit team as they are 19th in the NAIA in scoring at 86.1 points per game. The team has scored 70-plus points in every game this season and gone for 80-plus seven times.

• They are 14th nationally by shooting 48.8 percent from the field. The team has shot at least 50 percent in a game five times and been above 45 percent in all but two games they have played.

• OUAZ is also solid at the foul line where the convert 73.5 percent as a team to rank 17th in the country. They have made at least 75 percent at the stripe six times.

• While they make just 6.29 threes per game, the Spirit are making 35.5 percent from beyond the arc to sit 38th in the nation.

• Starting the week, OUAZ is 44th in the NAIA by distributing 14.8 assists per game. The team has recorded at least 12 assists in a game 10 times.

• OUAZ opponents are scoring 84.2 points per game and shooting 44.7 percent from the field. The Spirit force 17.1 turnovers per game and rank 21st in the NAIA by getting 8.5 steals per outing.

TRIPLE THREAT
• OUAZ currently has two of the top three and three of the top 10 leading scorers in the GSAC in Dimetres Moore (24.00), Brian Carey (19.64), and Shazier Lawson (15.50). They join The Master's as the only GSAC teams with three players in the top 10.

• Those three account for 59.1 points per game to trail only the trio from LSU Shreveport that averages 59.6 points per game as this highest scoring trios in the NAIA. One of those three players have led the Spirit in scoring in every game this season.

LEANING ON MOORE
• Dimetres Moore is the leader of that trio by scoring 24.0 points per game. That is good for tops in the GSAC and fifth in the NAIA. Moore has scored 20-plus points in a game 10 times this season and had 30-plus points in a game three times.

• Moore isn't just a scoring threat for the Spirit as he is second on the team by grabbing 6.6 rebounds per game while adding 1.5 assists per outing. 

• Moore is also active at the defensive end where his 2.86 steals per game are tops in the conference and third in the nation. He has recorded at least one steal in all but one game of the season and has 10 games with multiple steals.

• Moore narrowly missed the first triple-double in program history against Embry-Riddle when he recorded 24 points, 10 rebounds, and a school record nine steals. Those nine steals are the most by a player in the Golden State Athletic Conference since the 2010-11 season.

FIRST TO 1,000
• Moore became the all-time leading scorer at OUAZ when he scored his 777th career point at San Diego Christian on January 11. He is trending towards becoming the program's first-ever 1,000-point scorer.

• He enters the week with 790 points at OUAZ and he needs to average 16.2 points per game over the final 13 regular season games to reach the milestone.

ASSIST FROM CAREY
• Brian Carey saw his scoring average rise during December when he posted seven straight games of at least 20 points. He has eight 20-point outings overall this season to average 19.6 points per game to rank 12th in the NAIA.

• Along with being the team's No. 2 scoring option, Carey has 82 assists and is on pace to surpass the single-season school record of 107. He sits seventh in the NAIA at 5.86 assists per game while recording at least five assists in a game nine times this season.

BOARDS FROM LAWSON
• Shazier Lawson is scoring 15.5 points per game and he has been in double figures in 11 of the 12 games he has played this season. Lawson has twice scored 20-plus points in a game.

• Lawson also collects 9.08 rebounds per game to rank him 12th in the NAIA and second in the GSAC. He has at least six rebounds in every game this season with four games in double figures.

• He also ranks ninth in the NAIA by getting 6.75 defensive rebounds per night and his four double-doubles lead the team and rank second in the GSAC.

ABOUT NO. 18 HOPE INTERNATIONAL
• Hope International started the season with nine straight wins and they have gone 5-3 since. They are coming off a pair of home wins last week.

• HIU leads the NAIA with a 14.65 rebounding margin and the Royals are third nationally by hitting 41.9 percent from beyond the arc.

• Josh Powell-Davis leads the Royals by scoring 13.0 points per game and he is sixth in the nation by securing 3.65 offensive rebounds per contest.

ABOUT LIFE PACIFIC
• Life Pacific will begin the week at Arizona Christian on Thursday. The Warriors have dropped three straight and six of their last seven games.

• LPU makes 10.87 threes per game to rank ninth in the NAIA and they are 48th nationally by shooting 34.3 percent from beyond the arc.

• Andre Allen leads the Warriors in scoring and assists. He averages 16.2 points per game and is 13th in the country at 5.29 assists per game.

LOOKING AHEAD
• OUAZ makes a trip to northern California next week to play two GSAC games.

• The trip starts in Rocklin, California, on Thursday, January 23, when they play at William Jessup.

• The Spirit then head to Atherton, California, for a 5 p.m. contest at Menlo on Saturday, January 25.