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OUAZ Athletics

Keshawn Bruner - November 3, 2021
Richard Martinez
75
Benedictine Mesa BENU 1-2
84
Winner OUAZ OUAZ 1-0
Benedictine Mesa BENU
1-2
75
Final
84
OUAZ OUAZ
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Benedictine Mesa BENU 28 47 75
OUAZ OUAZ 42 42 84

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

OUAZ Ignites Home Crowd with 84-75 Win in Season Opener

SURPRISE, Ariz. – Having recorded the best record in program history last season playing in an empty Faith Arena, the OUAZ men's basketball team put on a solid performance in front of a rowdy home crowd to defeat Benedictine Mesa 84-75 on Wednesday night.

OUAZ (1-0) saw nine of the ten players to appear in the game score, with six finishing with at least seven points and three in double figures. The Spirit led for nearly 37 minutes of the action, including over the final 34 minutes and 34 seconds.

While they didn't shoot it exceptionally well, finishing at 39.2 percent from the field, OUAZ scored 42 points in the paint and converted the 21 Benedictine Mesa (1-2) turnovers into 21 points. The Spirit made just 5 of 27 from beyond the arc and were 1 of 11 from deep in the second half.

One of those threes had Faith Arena buzzing as Josiah De'laCerda beat the halftime horn with a fallaway three that had the Spirit leading 42-28 at intermission. That shot sparked De'laCerda to his 17 points and nine rebounds outing.

With the OUAZ lead hanging around ten in the middle stages of the second half, the Spirit made sure the opener would go their way by putting together an 11-2 run to open a 62-43 advantage with 10:25 to play. The crucial spurt rode the momentum of a high-flying transition dunk from Keshawn Bruner that had the arena in a frenzy.

Bruner would finish his OUAZ debut with ten points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots. Kam Malbrough would lead the Spirit with 19 points after making all 12 of his attempts at the foul line, including eight straight in the final minute to seal the victory.

In the end, OUAZ would hold a 45-44 edge in rebounds, and the Spirit tallied 18 assists, nine steals, and seven blocks. They held the Redhawks to 40.8 percent shooting and just 3 of 31 from distance.

Tre Carolina led five BenU players in double figures with 13 points.

OUAZ will return to action on Tuesday with another home game against a Cal Pac opponent as Park Gilbert comes to Surprise for a 7 p.m. tip.
 
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