Men's Basketball 1/11/2021 3:00:00 PM

Spirit Look to Bounce Back with Consecutive Home Games

SAGU AMERICAN INDIAN COLLEGE WARRIORS (0-7) at OUAZ SPIRIT (3-1)
Game Details	Tuesday, January 12 • 7 p.m. (Arizona) • Surprise, Ariz. • Faith Arena
Video Stream	ouazspirit.com/digital
OTT App	NAIA Network (Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku)
Live Stats	ouazspirit.com/sidearmstats/mbball
Game Notes	OUAZ (PDF)

BENEDICTINE MESA REDHAWKS (1-4) at OUAZ SPIRIT (3-1)
Game Details	Wednesday, January 13 • 7 p.m. (Arizona) • Surprise, Ariz. • Faith Arena
Video Stream	ouazspirit.com/digital
OTT App	NAIA Network (Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku)
Live Stats	ouazspirit.com/sidearmstats/mbball
Game Notes	OUAZ (PDF)

SPIRIT NOTES
•   Coming off its first loss of the season, the OUAZ men's basketball team will return to the court on Tuesday and Wednesday as the spring to close the regular season continues. OUAZ will host SAGU American Indian College on Tuesday at 7 p.m. before a rematch with Benedictine Mesa on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Both games will be played in Faith Arena.

•   Due to the ordinance by the City of Surprise limiting public gatherings to less than 50 people, fans will not be allowed to attend the game.

•   OUAZ will broadcast both games live on the OUAZ Digital Network. Fans can view the game online at OUAZSpirit.com/network or on the NAIA Network app on Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku devices.

•   Live stats will also be available during the games with a link will be available on the men's basketball schedule on the OUAZ website or at OUAZSpirit.com/live.

•   The Spirit enter the two home games with a 3-1 overall record after having its five-game winning streak snapped with an 89-81 loss against Benedictine Mesa on Saturday in Faith Arena. The team has gone 1-1 in home games so far this season.

•   That five-game winning streak that was snapped on Saturday was the second-longest winning streak in program history. The stream included a home win over then-No. 16 Menlo at the end of last season and has helped the team to a 6-4 mark over its last 10 games played.

•   In the program's history, OUAZ has a 17-18 record when playing at home. Since moving into Faith Arena at the start of last season, the Spirit have gone 9-7 and won three of its past four home games.

•   The "Play Fast" offense of the Spirit has been in full effect through the team's first four games of the season. They have scored at least 80 points in every game with two games in the 90s. OUAZ is currently 20th in the NAIA in scoring average at 89.25 points per game.

•   That high scoring attack has been anchored by the efficient shooting of the team. Four games into the season OUAZ is seventh in the nation by shooting 53.5 percent from the field. The Spirit has shot at least 50 percent from the field three times.

•   The 58.3 percent shooting in the season opener against Park Gilbert is the second-best shooting night in program history. That was followed by 57.6 percent against Randall, including 71.9 percent in the second half.

•   OUAZ added the long ball into its repertoire this season with at least 10 threes in every game to mark the longest such streak in program history. The team is ninth nationally by making 11.50 triples per game and they rank sixth in shooting 42.6 percent from beyond the arc.

•   For good measure, the Spirit is shooting 74.2 percent from the foul line which places them 37th in the country.

•   Josiah De'laCerda has led the team in scoring in two of the three games he has played and his 19.67 points per game average leads the team and ranks 46th in the country.

•    De'laCerda is shooting 70.6 percent from the field – ninth in the NAIA – and nine makes without a miss at the foul line are fourth-most in the NAIA at this time.

•   De'laCerda has a team-best 19 rebounds while adding six assists, three steals, and two blocked shots.

•   Kam Malbroughhad a 25-point outing against SAGU on December 10 and he is second on the team in scoring at 17.00 points per game. He set the program record with 14 made free throws in that game while tying the record with 16 attempts.

•   Malbrough has scored in double figures in all four games this season and he leads the Spirit with 17 assists and five steals.

•   Marcus Williams is averaging 14.8 points per game and he has gone 14 of 30 from beyond the arc on the year. His 3.50 made threes per game is 14th in the NAIA.

•   Williams enters Saturday having made at least one 3-pointer in each of the past 18 games he has played to establish the longest such streak in program history. During that stretch, the OUAZ all-time leader with 134 made threes has averaged 3.56 makes from deep per game and shot 45.1 percent from long range. Williams has made multiple threes in a game 15 times during the streak.

•   Kolten Hitt has also scored in double figures in every game this season and is currently averaging 13.50 points per game. Hitt has gone 10 of 16 from distance to currently rank seventh in the NAIA with that 62.5 percent clip.

•   According to the poll of the league's coaches released on October 17, OUAZ was projected to finish eighth in the league this season. The team received 26 points from the coaches

•   The GSAC released an updated 2020-21 schedule of conference games last week with the league playing a 10-game GSAC schedule starting on January 15.

•   The new schedule has been adjusted to the conference playing in two pods with six schools – Arizona Christian, Life Pacific, OUAZ, San Diego Christian, The Master's, and William Jessup – playing in one pod. The second pod will consist of Hope International, Menlo, Vanguard, and Westmont. The two pods will not play any crossover contests.

•   The 2020-21 NAIA basketball season marks a return to one division for the first time since the end of 1990-91. That also changes the NAIA National Championship from a 32-team field to a 64-team field.

•   With the change, 16 schools will host a four-team Opening Round bracket with those winners advancing to the final site at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo.

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Players Mentioned

#0 Marcus Williams: G; 6' 0"; Senior

#35 Josiah De'laCerda: F; 6' 8"; Junior

#14 Kolten Hitt: G; 6' 3"; Junior

#2 Kam Malbrough: G; 5' 9"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#0 Marcus Williams
: 6' 0"; Senior
: G

#35 Josiah De'laCerda
: 6' 8"; Junior
: F

#14 Kolten Hitt
: 6' 3"; Junior
: G

#2 Kam Malbrough
: 5' 9"; Junior
: G