COSTA MESA – The Vanguard men's basketball team made 11 three-pointers in a 93-58 victory against San Diego Christian on Thursday evening in The Pit.
The Lions improved to 11-1 on the year when connecting on 10 or more three-pointers.
Masie Mohammadi (SR/San Carlos, CA) and Phillip Willis (JR/San Diego, CA) provided the bulk of the scoring from distance. Mohammadi made five threes for a team-high 15 points. Willis, who finished with 14 points, knocked down 4-of-6 from long range. Willis also tied his season high with six assists, and he did not commit a turnover in his 23 minutes.
James Moore (SR/Talco, TX) had a solid game with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting. The forward is shooting an incredible 85.0 percent (17-of-20) from the field over the last three games.
Vanguard shared the ball well, amassing 24 assists on 37 baskets. Isaac Davis (SR/Valencia, CA) dished out six assists to increase his season total to 144. He needs six more assists to break into Vanguard's single-season top-10.
The Lions enjoyed a 34-16 advantage in points in the paint, and generated a ton of offense from playing tough defense. Vanguard scored 30 points off of 20 San Diego Christian turnovers.
What Happened?: Vanguard had a lead from the get-go as Willis put the Lions up 8-2 on a three-point shot. Another Willis three increased the lead to 13-4, and it wasn't long before VU built a double-digit advantage.
Garrett White (SR/Post Falls, ID) knocked down a three to extend the advantage to 24-12, and the lead never dropped below double digits.
Mohammadi drilled back-to-back triples as the Lions went up 37-15. The lead remained above 20 thanks to solid bench play toward the end of the first half. Andre Allen (SR/Los Angeles, CA) and Christian Wilson (SR/Temecula, CA) scored four points apiece, and a Jordan Caruso (JR/New York, NY) layup padded VU's lead to 47-24 at halftime.
San Diego Christian could not mount a comeback in the second half as the visitors started out just 2-for-9 from the field. Meanwhile, the Lions kept bombing away as two more Mohammadi threes widened the lead to 55-26 with 17:36 to go.
Davis put Vanguard up 62-30 with a three of his own.
The bench then scored 12 consecutive points as the Lions doubled up the Hawks, 74-37.
Isaac Padilla (FR/Galt, CA) came off the bench to score VU's final six points to cement the 93-58 victory.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions won their third consecutive game to improve to 18-10 overall and 10-7 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. Vanguard will be the No. 4 or No. 5 seed in the GSAC Tournament. The Lions are currently tied with OUAZ for fourth in the GSAC. The Lions could finish ahead of OUAZ with a win in the regular season finale coupled with a Spirit loss to Arizona Christian.
What's Next?: Vanguard closes out the regular season and plays its final game ever in The Pit on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. against Hope International. The Pit will be torn down this spring, and will be replaced by Lions Arena, a three-story, 60,000 sq. ft. facility. The expected completion date for Lions Arena will be in 2024.
