FULLERTON, Calif. – No. 5 seed Vanguard lost 69-50 to fourth-seed OUAZ in the quarterfinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Darling Pavilion.
The Lions (18-12) struggled from the field, finishing at 36.2 (21-of-58) percent overall and hitting just 5-of-19 from three-point range. The Spirit also didn't shoot particularly well at 40.4 (23-of-57) percent overall and 6-of-28 from distance.
However, OUAZ cleaned up at the free throw line, making 17-of-21 for 81.0%. The Lions were 3-of-3 at the stripe for the game.
Garrett White led the Lions with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting. He hit three of the Lions' five three-pointers and added six rebounds and a steal.
Jordan Caruso was the other Lion double figure scorer with 12 points off the bench. He shot 6-of-10 and chipped in with four rebounds and a steal.
Vanguard committed 18 turnovers which led to 21 OUAZ points.
Four Spirit players scored in double figures led by Kam Malbrough with 15 points. Devin Collins had 14 points and eight rebounds, while Keshawn Bruner just missed a double-double with 10 points and nine boards.
What Happened?: The Lions shot just 30 percent in the first half but only trailed 30-24 at halftime. Vanguard faced deficits of 7-0 and 18-8, and went almost six minutes without a point before Masie Mohammadi's jumper at the 8:06 mark made it 21-10 OUAZ.
The Lions trailed by as many as 15 but began to climb back into the game over the last seven minutes. Caruso started a 14-5 run to close the half, hitting a layup with 7:03 to go. James Moore followed with a three and White drained another trey with 27 seconds left to get the Lions to 30-24 at half.
VU held the Spirit without a field goal for the final 4:35 of the half.
The renewed hope didn't last long though as the Spirit reopened a double-digit lead, 39-28, on Bruner's layup with 16:40 remaining. The Lions last cut the deficit to single digits midway through the half on Caruso's jumper, trailing 48-39.
But VU went ice cold from there, going scoreless over the next 5:14. The Spirit went on a 9-0 run during that stretch to widen the lead to 57-39 with 4:47 to go.
Vanguard's offense could not catch fire as the Spirit walked away with the 69-50 victory. The 50 points for VU was a season-low.
The Lions finished the game with a season-low three free throw attempts.
What's Next?: With 18 wins, including two over teams ranked in the NAIA Top 10, the Lions await whether they receive an at-large bid into the NAIA Opening Round Tournament.
