No. 2 Firestorm Close Out No. 3 Tigers in Round of 16

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The No. 3-seeded Georgetown College men's basketball team's (24-8) season came to an end 86-78 to the No. 2-seeded Arizona Christian University (25-7) in the Round of 16 of the 2026 NAIA Men's Basketball National Championships on Thursday night.

Georgetown knocked off Arizona Christian on November 2, 76-75, behind a Zion Harmon game-winning layup with just two seconds remaining.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Firestorm won the opening tip and scored on the first possession as this one quickly set up to be a physical battle up front. The opening five minutes of play were primarily played in the paint as the Tigers trailed 9-8 at the first media timeout. Led by Rashad Bishop in the early goings, Georgetown led 14-11 after Bishop's dunk just eight minutes into the game. Bishop scored eight of the first 14 points for the Tigers, who held a 19-13 advantage through the opening 10 minutes. The half shifted midway through when Zion Harmon collected three quick fouls, forcing the junior to the bench. With Harmon on the bench, the Firestorm went on a run to tie things at 23-23 behind back-to-back 3-pointers with just 5:28 to play in the half. Arizona Christian was content to play Georgetown into further foul trouble down the stretch as, in total, the Firestorm capitalized on 10 first-half free throws to take a 38-32 lead into the break.

Harmon started the second half and sank a 3-pointer to get things rolling for the Tigers. Within three points is as close Georgetown would get, though, as Isaiah Mason's trey made it a 54-51 game with 12:17 to play. The nation's leading squad in free throws attempted per game created more disruption in the second half as the Firestorm stepped up to the charity stripe 29 more times. Despite cutting it back down to four points with under a minute to play, the Tigers could not fully surmount the comeback, falling 86-78.

THE TEAM 
Georgetown shot 49.2% from the field. The Tigers were 6-20 (30.0%) from deep and were 10-16 (62.5%) at the free-throw line. GC was outrebounded by ACU, 38-29. The Tigers picked up 13 assists while creating seven steals.

THE PLAYERS
* Isaiah Mason put up 22 points with three rebounds and two assists.
* Darien Lewis added 11 points with nine assists and three rebounds.
* Scotty Browning finished with 11 points on 5-of-6 shooting with two rebounds.