OUAZ MEN'S BASKETBALL NOTES
• The second half of the Golden State Athletic Conference season begins this week for the OUAZ men's basketball team as they head to California to road games at the top two teams in the conference standings.

• OUAZ will begin the trip on Thursday at No. 7 The Master's in Santa Clarita, California. The second meeting of the season between the teams will tip at 8:30 p.m. (AZ) at Bross Court.

• The Spirit will then make their way to Santa Barbara, California on Saturday where they will visit No. 4 Westmont. The action at Murchison Gymnasium is scheduled for a 4 p.m. tipoff.

• OUAZ will make the trip with a 6-12 overall record and looking to snap a four-game losing streak after they had won two straight. The Spirit are currently eighth in the GSAC with a 2-7 record and two games behind in their quest for a spot in the GSAC Tournament.

• Master's is 17-3 overall and the Mustangs have won three straight after their two-game losing streak. They sit second in the GSAC at 7-2 to trail the lead by one game.

• Westmont will start the week with a 19-2 overall record and on a two-game winning streak. The Warriors lead the GSAC with their 8-1 record.

• OUAZ is winless in three all-time meetings with Master's, including an 0-1 record on the road. The Mustangs defeated the Spirit 96-77 at Faith Arena on December 7.

• Westmont has won all three meetings with OUAZ in the program's history. The Warriors are 1-0 at home and they earned a 99-92 win on December 5 in Surprise.

HOW TO FOLLOW
• Both games this week will be broadcast live on the OUAZ Digital Network – produced by the host school – 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.

OUAZ TIDBITS
• OUAZ will head back to California looking to snap their four-game losing streak after dropping both games of last week's road trip. They have a 2-6 record in road games this season.

• The Spirit continue to be one of the top scoring team's in the NAIA this season where they rank 17th by averaging 86.56 points per game. They operate with a 105.0 offensive rating. The team has scored 80-plus points in a game 11 times.

• OUAZ is 13th in the NAIA by making 48.9 percent from the floor. They have shot 50 percent or better in a game six times this season and have been 45 percent or better in all but three games.

• The foul line has also been a strength of the Spirit this season as they convert 73.9 percent on free throws. That has the team 12th in the nation. OUAZ has made at least 75 percent at the stripe in eight games.

• Heading to the road, OUAZ is 48th in the NAIA by averaging 14.67 assists per game. They are also 48th with a 0.967 assist-to-turnover ratio.

• OUAZ opponents are scoring 86.1 points per game and shooting 45.6 percent from the field. The Spirit force 15.9 turnovers per game and rank 25th in the NAIA by getting 8.11 steals per outing.

TRIPLE THREAT
• OUAZ features the top two leading scorers in the GSAC entering the week and three of the top five. Dimetres Moore (22.2) leads the conference with Brian Carey (20.9) second and Shazier Lawson (17.4) fifth. Moore and Carey are the only teammates in the NAIA to both average at least 20 points per game.

• All three of those players are ranked in the top-34 in scoring in the NAIA this season and OUAZ is one of five teams with at least two players in the top-34.

• The Spirit trio are the highest scoring trio in the NAIA by combining to score 60.49 points per game. Moore, Carey, and Lawson are accounting for nearly 68 percent of the team's total points this season.

LEANING ON MOORE
• Dimetres Moore is the leader of that trio by scoring 22.2 points per game. That is good for tops in the GSAC and seventh in the NAIA. Moore has scored 20-plus points in a game 12 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 6.4 rebounds per game while adding 1.6 assists per outing. 

• Moore is also active at the defensive end where his 2.78 steals per game are tops in the conference and fifth in the nation. He has recorded at least one steal in all but one game of the season and has 12 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 853 points at OUAZ and needing to average 14.7 points per game over the final 10 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 11 20-point outings overall this season to average 20.9 points per game to rank ninth in the NAIA.

• Along with being the team's No. 2 scoring option, Carey has 104 assists and is four shy of setting the single season school record. He sits seventh in the NAIA at 5.78 assists per game while recording at least five assists in a game 12 times this season.

BOARDS FROM LAWSON
• Shazier Lawson is scoring 17.38 points per game where he ranks 34th in the NAIA. Lawson has scored in double figures in 15 of the 16 games he has played this season with six 20-point outings, including four straight and five of seven since returning from an injury.

• Lawson also collects 8.94 rebounds per game to rank him 12th in the NAIA and second in the GSAC. He has at least six rebounds in all but one game this season with five games in double figures.

• He ranks ninth in the NAIA by getting 6.81 defensive rebounds per night and his five double-doubles lead the team and place second in the GSAC.

ABOUT MASTER'S
• Master's is second in the NAIA in shooting 42.5 percent from beyond the arc and they make 10.0 3-pointers per game to sit 16th in the nation.

• The Mustangs average 82.2 points per game while allowing 68.8 per night. They have only allowed 80-plus points in a game three times this season.

• Brock Gardner leads the team in scoring at 20.2 points per game with eight 20-point outings, including three games with 40-plus.

ABOUT WESTMONT
• Westmont begins the week sixth in the NAIA by shooting 41.0 percent from three and they are 12th by hitting 10.48 triples per contest.

• The Warriors are 20th nationally in scoring 85.4 points per game and 34th by holding opponents to 73.2 points per game.

• Abram Carrasco is the team leader at 17.3 points per game while Gyse Hulsebosch is fifth in the NAIA by shooting 50.7 percent from distance.

LOOKING AHEAD
• OUAZ will close the regular season with six of their final eight games at home, including four straight starting next week.

• The first of that span is on Thursday, February 6 when they host San Diego Christian at 7 p.m. in Faith Arena.

• The Spirit will then welcome Vanguard to Surprise for a 2 p.m. contest on Saturday, February 8.