KANSAS CITY, Mo. - No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan Men's basketball will continue to the Quarterfinals of the NAIA National Championship after defeating Arizona Christian University in a tight contest with a final score of 83-74. Griffin Kliewer was the top performer for the Wildcats on the day with 26 points, three rebounds, and two steals. Through three NAIA tournament games Javan Buchanan is averaging over 30 points, and 7 rebounds, while shooting over 50% from the field and 39% from beyond the arc.
- Location: Kansas City, Mo. | Municipal Auditorium
- Records: IWU: 29-5 | ACU: 25-8
- NAIA Top-25 Rankings: IWU - #6 (2 Seed) | ACU - #18 (3 Seed)
- The first five minutes saw a back-and-forth start with IWU and ACU tied at 11-11.
- After four more lead changes, the Wildcats secured a ten-point deficit with eight minutes to go.
- ACU was able to close the gap and tied the game after just three minutes. After a nail-biter conclusion of the first half, Arizona Christian led IWU 37-34.
- Griffin Kliewer started hot for IWU in the second half with a 3-pointer and a mid-range jumper to gain the lead a minute in.
- Another tightly contested second half saw the Wildcats and the Firestorm trade shots with five lead changes before IWU was able to secure a five-point lead with a minute and a half to go to close out Arizona Christian with a final score of 84-73.
- 10: The Wildcats were strong on the defense with 10 steals on the night compared to ACU's two.
- 15+: Griffin Kliewer and Javan Buchanan both showed up in the second half, scoring 15+ in the half. (18, 16)
- 46%: Both IWU and ACU shot an even 46% from the field on the day.
- Griffin Kliewer: 26 points, 9-17 FG, 3 rebounds, 2 steals
- Javan Buchanan: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal
- Nathan Childress: 13 points, 6-11 FG, 4 assists, 2 blocks, 3 steals
- The Wildcats advance to the Quarterfinals, they will face 1 seed Langston tomorrow at 5 PM.
- Links for tickets, video, and stats will be available at IWUWildcats.com.
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