Kankakee Times

The Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with the nation's top-ranked team in the Cactus Classic Monday night. The Tigers stayed close, but couldn't do enough down the stretch in an 80-75 loss to No. 1 Arizona Christian.

ONU trailed the Firestorm, who received 17 of a possible 21 first-place votes in the most recent NAIA top-25 poll, by as many as 13 points in the closing minutes of the first half. But a Tyler Schmidt dunk ignited a 13-5 run that got the Tigers back within striking distance. A layup from Griffin Andricks and a three-pointer from Landon Pflederer capped the late run to cut the deficit to five heading into the break.

The Tigers came roaring out of the locker room to tie the game following a Sam Emich three-ball and another dunk from Schmidt. On the following possession, a three-pointer from Pflederer gave the Tigers their first lead of the game at the 17:40 mark of the second half. Just one minute later, Pflederer connected again from deep to extend the ONU lead to three.

Arizona Christian (12-2) hit a free throw to knock the lead down to two, but Schmidt was able to push the lead to seven with a three-pointer of his own and yet another dunk.

This would be the biggest lead of the night for ONU, however, as the nation's top-ranked team quickly erased the deficit with a 9-2 run to tie the game up 59–59 at the midway point of the second. Both teams locked down defensively for the next handful of possessions, but when Arizona Christian broke the two-and-a-half-minute scoring drought, they took a lead that they would hold on to for the remainder of the game.

The Tigers were able to cut it down to a one-score game four times down the stretch but never got over the hump in the closing minutes, falling 80-75 to No. 1 Arizona Christian.

ONU outshot the Firestorm in all three shooting categories and held a 35-22 advantage on the boards in the loss. Schmidt dropped in a game-high 22 points and led all players in steals with four.

The Tigers, now 10-4 overall, will close out 2022 with another non-conference tilt against Taylor.

GAME VITALS

Final: No. 1 Arizona Christian 80, Olivet Nazarene 75

Records: No. 1 Arizona Christian 12-2 | Olivet Nazarene 10-4

Location: Coyote Center | Carroll University | Chandler, Ariz.

QUICK HITS

• Tyler Schmidt led the game in points (24) and steals (4)
• Braydon Flagg scored 14 points off the bench.
• Landon Pflederer and Sam Emich also finished in double-figures with 12 points each.
• ONU shot 48-percent from the floor (25-of-52) and 43-percent (9-of-21) from deep.
• The Tigers outrebounded the Firestorm 35-22.

Original source can be found here