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OUAZ Athletics

Elijah Simmons - January 9, 2021
89
Winner Benedictine Mesa BENU 1-4
81
OUAZ OUAZ 3-1
Winner
Benedictine Mesa BENU
1-4
89
Final
81
OUAZ OUAZ
3-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Benedictine Mesa BENU 43 46 89
OUAZ OUAZ 46 35 81

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Cold Second Half Leads to Season’s First Loss

SURPRISE, Ariz. – Playing four just the second time since Halloween, the OUAZ men's basketball team went cold in the second half and lost for the first time this season as Benedictine Mesa claimed an 89-81 win on Saturday afternoon at Faith Arena.
 
OUAZ (3-1) led 46-43 at halftime and maintained a 56-55 advantage with 12:10 remaining in the second half before Benedictine Mesa (1-4) went on a 16-5 run over the next six minutes, 36 seconds to build a 10-point cushion. During the decisive run, OUAZ made just 1 of 7 shots and committed four turnovers.
 
Along with the cold spurt, OUAZ was hurt by the Redhawks 16 offensive rebounds for 24 points. BenU also had a 54-34 edge in paint points. The Spirit were able to hang around by making 12 of 29 from beyond the arc and scoring 16 fast break points.
 
Elijah Simmons led five Spirit players in double figures with 18 points on 7 of 11 shooting. He hit three times from deep and added three rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots. Kam Malbrough had 17 points and five assists off the bench.
 
OUAZ ended the game shooting 50 percent from the floor and had 20 assists. BenU shot 49.3 percent and forced the Spirit into 18 turnovers to go with the 44-31 edge in rebounds.
 
Marcus Williams added 15 points and Kolten Hitt scored 12 for OUAZ. Quentin Guliford had 10 points and five rebounds in his Spirit debut. Dane Maggii led the team with 10 rebounds in his first start.
 
Jalen Grijalva scored 22 points and Tre Carolina finished with 20 to lead the Redhawks.
 
The Spirit will look to bounce back on Tuesday when they host SAGU American Indian College in Faith Arena for the second time this season. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and no fans will be allowed.
 
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