Horne ignites rout in the Rockies

Senior scores 19; Lions sink 18 'threes'

SAGU meets host team on Thursday at 6:00pm (CST)

LAKEWOOD, Colorado -- Led by senior Ronald Horne (Waco, Tx / Univ. of N.Texas, Waco HS) and an explosive aerial game, the Southwestern Assemblies of God University rolled over an outmanned Southwestern Christian University team, 97-72, on Wednesday night.

Click here for the SAGU-vs-SWCU Box Score

The win advances the Lions, now 24-9, to the semi-finals of the NCCAA’s Central Regional tournament.

SAGU, the #2 seed, will take on the host and #6 seed Colorado Christian University on Thursday night at 6:00pm CST.

The Cougars upset the #3 seed Mid-America Christian University (14-14), 70-68, on a layup with eleven seconds remaining.

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Horne hit seven-of-eight shots, including all four of his tries from beyond the arc, to power the SAGU attack. He had 19-points, five rebounds and no turnovers. He was one of four players in double-figures. Nine different Lions found the range from three-point range as Southwestern connected for a season-high 18 triples.

It was the 16th time the Purple Pride have made 10-or-more threes and it topped the 16 they made in a 100-52 rout at Bacone College in December. At 9.9 per game, the Lions are #3 in trifectas in the NAIA.

“We jumped on them early,” said head coach Donnie Bostwick, “then we let down a little. Overall, though, we played well.”

Game Review: From three to shining three

SAGU led from the start, extending an 11-4 lead to 24-13 on a pair of Christian Wood-Dvorak (Halletsville, Tx / Halletsville HS) treys and 3-balls by James Ford (Victoria, Tx / Faith Academy) and Jared Gibson (Dallas, Tx / Oral Roberts Univ., Plano West HS).

Following Horne’s second downtown bomb, the lead reached 28-15 with twelve minutes remaining in the half.

The Eagles began to make stops on defense, coupled with strong boardwork to draw to within 31-23 with at the 3:47 mark.

Horne knocked down two late shots and Jonathan Walter (Garland, Tx / Garland HS) pumped in a triple following a steal by Caleb Feemster (Addison, Tx / Trinity Christian Academy) to give SAGU a 41-29 margin at recess.

Horne, the inspirational leader of the Cat-pack, drained this third triple, triggering a quick 8-0 run and a twenty-point margin to begin the second half.

“Ron had a nice game,” Bostwick said in an understatement. “He took over a couple times.”

A three-point basket from Craig Grigsby (Houston, Tx / Glenda Dawson HS) preceded the only shot of the game by Duce Ward (Waco, Tx / Univ. of N.Texas, Connally HS).

Dominique Rambo (Dallas, Tx / Oklahoma Wesleyan Univ., Trinity Christian School) stole the ball, raced upcourt and hit Ward in transition. He finished by discharging a rousing dunk and the rout was on!

Meanwhile, the parade of threes buried the Eagles. Horne’s fourth made it 58-36 at 15:16, Gibson detonated a distance mortar before Ford wristed back-to-back treys, one on a feed from Feemster, and it was 69-44.

The team's regular-season leader in the long-ball, Rambo, made his only one, a familiar “’Bo rainbow.”

SWC simply had no answer for the barrage.

Bostwick emptied the bench with seven minutes to go, and the lead reached its zenith at 87-56 when Clayton O’Neill (Halletsville, Tx / Halletsville HS)  knocked down a trifecta with 5:30 remaining.

Statistics: Team and Player Totes

Horne’s 19-points were supported by Ford, who had 15 (4-of-7 beyond the arc), Mike Nwelue (Lewisville, Tx / Lewisville HS) and Gibson, who netted 11 and 10 respectively.

Dvorak and Grigsby accounted for eight apiece, while Walter and Rambo bucketed seven each. O’Neill tossed in five. The SAGU bench outscored Southwestern’s by a 51-37 margin.

Coach Bostwick divvied playing time liberally, with Rambo seeing more courtime, 20 minutes, than anyone. Ten players had 15+ minutes and everyone had six or more. Twelve of the 14 players scored.

Both teams had 36 rebounds, 11 on the offensive glass. The Lions shot 52% for the game after torching the Eagles with 59% accuracy during a 56-point second half.

About the CCU Cougars

Southwestern will meet the host, Colorado Christian, on Thursday at the Events Center on campus. The Cougars finished last in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, which has 14 teams from the NCAA Division II.

They averaged 60.4 ppg and permitted 78.4 during the season. The Coogs shoot .704 on the foul line and 39% from the floor. They do, however, average almost seven three-pointers per game.

CCU is led in scoring by Daniel Pilkington and Kyle Weaver, who sport 10.5 and 10.2 points per game averages.

“It will be a challenge playing the home team on their court,” said SAGU’s Coach Bostwick. “CCU is a physical, three-point shooting team. They have played a very tough D2 schedule and are much better than their record (indicates).”

As for the Lions, who are 685 miles from home, “we’re healthy,” Bostwick pointed out. “but will be playing on limited rest at 6000 feet (above sea level).”

The last time SAGU met Colorado Christian was in March of 2009 in the Central Regional, also in Lakewood. The Lions faded in the second half during an 83-63 setback.

The Cougars scored the final four points to pull out a 70-68 win over MACU on Wednesday. The score was knotted on 15 occasions and the lead changed hands 15 times before Abram Zeimer stole the ball and went the distance for a layup to win the game in the waning seconds.

Austin Wegner had team-high of 20-points and six boards to lead the Cougars (4-23).

Charlie Shorter led all scorers with 24 points, while George Haynes added 17 points and Cameron Langster chipped in with 11.

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.