Athletics
Arizona Christian Punches Ticket To Kansas City
Chandler, Ariz.- With their 91-82 win over Wayland Baptist on Saturday in the 2026 NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Second Round presented by Ballogy, Arizona Christian punched their ticket to the final site of Kansas City, MO, next week. Free throw shooting was the difference in the game.
Game Info
- Game score: Arizona Christian – 91, Wayland Baptist – 82
- Records: Arizona Christian – 24-7, Wayland Baptist – 24-8
- NAIA Top 25 ranking: Arizona Christian – 12, Wayland Baptist – RV
- Location: Coyote Center, Chandler-Gilbert Community College, Chandler, AZ
ACU Stats For The Day
- Shaud Bradley – 19 points
- Amaechi Chukwu – 18 points
- Ese Onakpoma – 15 points
- Jay Lee – 11 points, 13 rebounds, 5 assists
- Mikey DeHorney – 9 points
Inside the Box Score
- The Round Two matchup started out going back and forth
- WBU scored first and Onakpoma turned an offensive board into a 2-2 tie
- The Pioneers went right back in front and Chukwu knocked down a tying jumper in the paint
- Lee tipped in a 6-4 edge
- Wayland scored the next four points and built as large as a 12 point advantage with 11 minutes left in the half
- 30 seconds later, WBU was up 12 again (23-11)
- For nearly six minutes, the Firestorm pitched a shutout with a 18-0 run
- In the final ten plus minutes before the break, WBU scored just seven points
- Half number two saw the Pioneers cut their deficit to just one with 12:27 to play
- But ACU did not allow even a tie until the final whistle
- By night’s end, the Firestorm had gone to the charity stripe 51 times (tied for second most in ACU history)
- The Firestorm return to Kansas City for the fifth straight year
Up Next
On Thursday, the NAIA No. 12 Firestorm will face off with NAIA No. 14 Georgetown (KY) in the 2-3 seed matchup of the Naismith Quadrant in Municipal Auditorium of downtown KC. The teams will play the last game of day one of the Round of 16. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm Central/ 5:30 pm Pacific.
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