Surging Vanguard knocks down Hawks

Vanguard has won six of its last seven games after upsetting top two teams in Golden State Athletic Conference standings.COSTA MESA -- When Greg Gusiff was at Hope International, his team never got close to beating San Diego Christian.

So when the Vanguard University men’s basketball team held a small lead toward the end of Saturday night’s Golden State Athletic Conference showdown against first-place San Diego Christian, Gusiff wanted to make sure the Lions kept it.

With 39 seconds left in regulation time and the Lions up by two, Gusiff came off the bench and hit a clutch three-pointer as Vanguard defeated the Hawks, 60-53.

“When I was with Hope International last year, San Diego Christian used to kill us by like 40 or 50 points,” said Gusiff, a 6-foot-1 sophomore forward. “It was kind of like payback.”

Gusiff (2-for-2 from three-point range) opened the second half with a three-pointer to give the Lions a 32-20 lead, then all but closed the game with his second three-pointer fresh off the bench.

“I was on the bench for a while but I felt pretty good and I had confidence,” Gusiff said. “So I just threw it up. It’s the biggest shot I’ve made since I’ve been here.”

Gusiff’s three-pointer was Vanguard’s 11th of the game out of 26 attempts (42.3 %).

“That’s a little more than we normally would take,” Vanguard Coach Bob Wilson said. “But they did a nice job of taking away our horse on penetration.”

Vanguard’s horse, point guard Horace Wormely, still tallied 15 points, including three three-pointers. He scored on three drives to the basket in the second half after knocking down two of his three three-pointers in the first half.

Senior forward Levi Seekins had a game-high 17 points, including three three-pointers for Vanguard (13-8, 7-4 in conference).

The Hawks (14-5, 8-3) outrebounded Vanguard, 43-25. But the Lions held 6-foot-8, 240-pound center Rowan Gray to 10 points and seven rebounds. Gray had just two second-half points, often getting double-teamed.

“Our inside guys, Miguel [Rosales], Tim [Burnette] and Levi [Seekins], did a great job,” Wilson said. “Their offense goes off of Gray, and we didn’t have to cheat off the perimeter.”

Vanguard has knocked off the top two teams in the conference this week -- they beat Azusa Pacific on Tuesday -- and have won six of its last seven games.

“It’s been a good week,” Wilson said. “We’re finishing games now. We couldn’t hold leads earlier in the season. Now we’re playing extremely well together.”

Golden State

Athletic Conference

Vanguard 60,

San Diego Christian 53

Score by Halves