Men's Basketball 2/25/2022 8:00:00 AM

Spirit and Warriors Play for Trip to Championship Game

The OUAZ men's basketball team will continue its run at the 2022 GSAC Men's Basketball Tournament on Friday when the Spirit face Westmont in the semifinals of this year's event.

The game is the first semifinal game of the day and it will tipoff at 6 p.m. (AZ) between the No. 4 seed Spirit and No. 9 seed Warriors. The winner advances to the championship game on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (AZ). All of the games will be played at Darling Pavilion on the Hope International University campus in Fullerton, California.

Tickets for the tournament are available at gsacsports.org/tickets.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Every game of the GSAC Tournament will be broadcast live on the GSAC Sports Network. The GSAC Sports Network is available on your computer or mobile device at OUAZSpirit.com/watch. You can download the GSAC Network app on all Amazon Fire, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku devices.

STORYLINES
OUAZ brings a 21-9 overall record – the first 20-win season in program history – into the semifinals after defeating Vanguard in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Spirit recorded a 10-8 record in GSAC play to record its best-ever finish of fourth in the final conference standings.

OUAZ and Westmont split the two meetings during the regular season with each team winning at home. Westmont continues to lead the all-time series 5-1 and they won the last meeting 83-71 last month in Santa Barbara.

The Spirit average 77.4 points per game during season and have been held below 70 just five times. They are 9-0 when scoring at least 80 points in a game.

The foul line has been a pivotal component to the team's success as they entered the tournament leading the GSAC by making 15.6 free throws per game (11th in the NAIA) and by shooting 75.0 percent (19th in the NAIA). OUAZ has shot 75 percent or higher at the line 16 times.

ABOUT THE SPIRIT
Josiah De'laCerda averages 17.3 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 54.5 percent. He has scored 20-plus points in a game 10 times with five double-doubles. De'laCerda is second in the GSAC in scoring, third in rebounds per game, and ninth in field goal percentage.

Kam Malbrough averages 12.2 points per game while scoring in double figures 19 times. He leads the team with 109 assists and is first in the GSAC and fourth in the NAIA by shooting 91.3 percent at the foul line.

Jayce Catchings is scoring 11.0 points per game coming off the bench. He has scored in double figures 15 times and has 36 makes from beyond the arc.

Kolten Hitt is the OUAZ leader with 44 made threes and 55 steals. He has scored in double figures 18 times and tallied multiple steals in a game on 19 occasions.

Devin Collins leads the GSAC by grabbing 8.7 rebounds per game and with his 2.8 offensive rebounds per game tally. Collins has collected 10-plus rebounds in a game eight times.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Devin Collins: F; 6' 5"; Senior

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

#3 Kolten Hitt: G; 6' 3"; Senior

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

#21 Jayce Catchings: G; 6' 4"; Sophomore

Players Mentioned

#5 Devin Collins
: 6' 5"; Senior
: F

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

#3 Kolten Hitt
: 6' 3"; Senior
: G

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

#21 Jayce Catchings
: 6' 4"; Sophomore
: G