Surprise, Ariz.  - The OUAZ men's basketball team made a valiant effort to complete its comeback against No. 2 ranked Arizona Christian on Senior Day inside Faith Arena, but there was no upset as ACU won 78-71. Today's loss drops the Spirit's final regular season record to 18-9 overall and 10-8 in GSAC action.

Trailing 28-26 at halftime, OUAZ used a 7-0 run out of the locker room to take it's first lead since early in the game. Tied 38-38 a few minutes later, ACU used a 10-2 run of its own to build a lead it wouldn't give up.

Spirit Josiah De'laCerda led all scorers with 22 points, while teammates Keshawn Bruner (16 points) and Jayce Catchings (14 points) recorded double figures.

Spirit Locked Into GSAC Tournament

The good news from today is that the team has made the GSAC Post-Season Tournament as the fifth seed and will face Westmont in the first game. OUAZ finished tied for fourth in the conference standings with Westmont and Jessup however, due to the tie-breaker rules, OUAZ is the fifth seed. Only six teams make the GSAC post-season tournament in Fullerton, Calif. February 23-25. The men's tournament champion will secure an automatic berth into the NAIA Men's Basketball Opening Round which begins on March 7th.

OUAZ is the defending conference tournament champion after beating Jessup (78-77) as the fourth seed.