Men's Basketball 3/11/2025 5:35:00 PM Tim Gooszen

Arizona Christian To Host NAIA First And Second Rounds

Glendale, Ariz.- On Friday and Saturday, Arizona Christian University will host the 2025 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship First and Second Rounds, presented by Ballogy. The Glendale, AZ, site will feature the Firestorm of Arizona Christian University as the top seed, the No. 8 seed Warriors of the Indiana Institute of Technology, the No. 9 seed Hustlin' Owls of Oregon Institute of Technology, and the No. 16 seed Warriors of Westcliff University. The winner of the site will be one of 16 teams to advance to the NAIA final site in Kansas City, MO.

Glendale Site Details
Indiana Tech v Oregon Tech- Friday, March 14 at 2:30 pm
Arizona Christian v Westcliff- Friday, March 14 at 5:00 pm
Winner of game one v winner of game two- Saturday, March 15 at 5:00 pm
Arizona Christian University
ACU Events Center - Glendale, AZ
Tickets are only available for purchase online- Click here
No pass list available
Pricing- General Admission ($10), Senior 65+ and Active Military/Veteran ($5), Kids ages 10 and under (free)

Complete tournament bracket

Live Coverage
Live Video - https://www.gsacsportsnetwork.com/azchristian/
Live Stats - https://acufirestorm.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

Arizona Christian
The Firestorm (26-4) are the top seed of the Cramer Quadrant and one of the top four seeded teams in the 2025 NAIA Men's Basketball Championship tournament. They earned an automatic bid to the final field of 64 as the GSAC Tournament Champions. ACU is making their eleventh appearance in the tournament. After advancing to the Round of 16 a season ago, the Firestorm are 13-9 in the tournament.

Arizona Christian is led by All-GSAC and GSAC Co-Defensive Player of the Year Ese Onakpoma (averaging 13.6 points) and All-GSAC Anthony Howell (10.8 points, 4.8 rebounds). ACU averages 78.9 points per game while allowing 67.3 points.

Indiana Tech
The Warriors (23-7) are the eighth seed in the Cramer Quadrant. They earned an automatic bid by winning the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Regular Season Championship. IT is a 15 time qualifier for the NAIA Championships. Their last appearance in 2023 saw the Warriors advance all the way to the national championship game. Overall, they are 11-14 in NAIA tournament play.

Indiana Tech is coached by the WHAC Coach of the Year Ted Albert. Five players earned WHAC honors including Javel Lewis earning Defensive Player of the Year and Crew Gibson and Blake Davison claiming First Team All-WHAC recognition. The Warriors average 81.5 points while allowing 69.3 points

Oregon Tech
The Hustlin' Owls (22-7) are the ninth seed in the Cramer Quadrant. They punched their ticket to the tournament as the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season runner-up. With 24 appearances and three times hoisting the NAIA championship red banner, the Owls are the savvy veterans of the Glendale site. OIT advanced to the second round in 2024 and owns a record of 40-19 when appearing in the tournament field.

Oregon Tech is topped by the trio of First Team All-Cascade Conference members Keegan Shivers, Jamison Guerra and Kam Osborn. OIT brings the offense with 86.4 points per game while allowing 75.9 points.

Westcliff
The Warriors (14-8) are the sixteenth seed in the Cramer Quadrant. WU earned a spot in the 87th Annual NAIA tournament by winning the California Pacific Conference tournament. They grabbed a spot for the second time (2023, 2025) in the field of 64. A loss in the first round of 2023 is their only game played in the tournament.

Micaiah Hankins and Rayven Turner were named First Team All-Cal Pac. Evan Hoosier and Aaron Strings claimed Second Team All-Cal Pac honors. WU averages 72.5 points per game while giving up 69.6 points a game.

Series
Arizona Christian and Westcliff have only met once- a 98-51 ACU win. That game was played back in 2017 on the old ACU campus. Indiana Tech and Oregon Tech have never met. Ironically, ACU and OIT played earlier this season while IT and WU also played this past December.

Get tickets now for NAIA First and Second Round action.

Roll Storm.

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Players Mentioned

#8 Anthony Howell: F; 6' 7"; Senior

#0 Ese Onakpoma: G; 6' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#8 Anthony Howell

#0 Ese Onakpoma