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OUAZ Athletics

Keshawn Bruner - January 5, 2023
Richard Martinez
79
Winner OUAZ OUAZ 11-4, 3-3 GSAC
65
Vanguard VU 8-6, 2-4 GSAC
Winner
OUAZ OUAZ
11-4, 3-3 GSAC
79
Final
65
Vanguard VU
8-6, 2-4 GSAC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
OUAZ OUAZ 38 41 79
Vanguard VU 35 30 65

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Spirit Dominate Second Half for Fifth Straight Win

COSTA MESA, Calif. – After shaking off the rust from the winter break, the OUAZ men's basketball team pulled away for a 79-65 win over Vanguard on Thursday night at Orange Coast College.

OUAZ (11-4, 3-3 GSAC) led Vanguard (8-6, 2-4) by three at halftime before outscoring the Lions 41-30 over the final 20 minutes. The Spirit shot 57.1 percent after intermission to carry them to 55.6 percent for the night.

With the game level at 46-46 at the 13:50 mark of the second half, Keshawn Bruner and Josiah De'laCerda combined for 11 points during a 13-4 Spirit run that opened a 59-50 lead with 8:19 to play. The scoring run extended to 24-13 as OUAZ built an 11-point advantage with 3:26 remaining.

Vanguard cut the lead to seven but went the final 2:07 without scoring, while Bruner converted 5 of 6 at the foul line to seal the team's fifth straight win.

Bruner led the Spirit with 24 points to notch his fourth 20-point outing of the season. He was 8 of 17 from the field while leading the Spirit with four steals and three assists. De'laCerda added 21 points by making nine of his 11 shots. It's the second time the duo had 20-plus points in the same game this season.

OUAZ used 50 points in the paint and 11 points from six offensive rebounds to notch its second-best shooting game of the season. They held the Lions to 43.9 percent and 5 of 17 from beyond the arc, including going empty on the final seven attempted threes. The Spirit turned the 16 Vanguard turnovers into 14 points.

Devin Collins gave the Spirit another 11 points, and Jayce Catchings led the way with eight rebounds in his first start of the year.

Garrett White scored 23 points to lead Vanguard.

OUAZ will go for a sixth straight win on Saturday when they visit Life Pacific at 3 p.m. AZT in San Dimas.
 
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