Vanguard men ousted in the semifinals

FULLERTON ? A furious rally in the final minute came up short as Vanguard University’s men’s basketball team lost to San Diego Christian, 79-74, in the semifinals of the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament at Hope International on Saturday.

The Lions, the No. 3 seed in the tournament, will now have to wait and see if they can make the field for the NAIA tournament as an at-large team. San Diego Christian, seeded No. 2, will meet Azusa Pacific in the finals Tuesday night.

Trailing, 72-65, with 1:35 remaining, Vanguard (20-11) rallied behind Kevin Dalafu’s three-point shooting. Dalafu made three consecutive shots from behind the arc, the last one cutting the deficit to 75-74 with 14 seconds left.

San Diego Christian’s Drew Sanchez was fouled and made one of two free throws, giving the Lions a chance to tie the score or go ahead. But Horace Wormely, who scored a team-high 17 points, lost the ball and the Hawks’ Rowan Gray recovered it with three seconds on the clock.

Gray made one of two three throws and added an exclamation point with a buzzer-beating slam dunk after Wormely turned the ball over again.

After the two teams split their regular season meetings, Saturday’s game featured huge momentum swings throughout.

The Hawks grabbed a quick lead, held off a Vanguard rally midway through the first half and led, 27-15, with 7:51 left in the half.

At that point, the Lions roared back behind Wormely’s 10 points and took a 39-35 lead at the break. Vanguard connected on six of its nine three-point shots in the first half.

The Lions increased their advantage to as many as 15 points in the second half, capped off by Miguel Rosales’ three-point play at the 12:54 mark.

Just as quickly, San Diego Christian (21-8) went on a 15-0 run to tie the score. Tyler Hays hit back-to-back three-pointers to spark the Hawks, who pushed ahead once more. Gray’s layup gave them a seven-point cushion, just in time for Vanguard to start its final rally.

Wormely had eight assists to go with his scoring, but also committed six turnovers and fouled out. Levi Seekins added 14 points and seven rebounds before also fouling out.

Tim Burnette chipped in with 10 points and nine rebounds for the Lions, who shot 39.4% from the field in the second half (13 for 33) after shooting 53.8% in the first half (14 for 26).

Gray led all scorers with 22 points and also grabbed 16 rebounds. Jeremiah Trueman added 16 points and 10 rebounds for San Diego Christian, which outrebounded Vanguard, 41-26.