Arizona
Arizona bench overpowers No. 23 BYU to snap 2-game skid
PROVO — Down a pair of starters in Arizona’s Koa Peat and BYU’s Richie Saunders, it was the Wildcats’ bench who came up big Wednesday night.
The Cougars? Not so much.
Anthony Dell’Orso scored a season-high 22 points, and Ivan Kharchenkov added 18 points and seven rebounds as No. 4 Arizona snapped a two-game losing skid with a 75-68 win over BYU at the McKay Center in Tucson, Arizona.
Jaden Bradley added 12 points and 10 assists for the Wildcats (24-2, 11-2 Big 12), who got 11 points from Brayden Burries and outscored the Cougars’ bench 26-6.
AJ Dybantsa poured in a game-high 35 points, seven rebounds and two assists to lead BYU (19-7, 7-6 Big 12); and Robert Wright III scored 13 with four rebounds and three assists.
Kennard Davis Jr. had 10 points, two rebounds and two assists, while Keba Keita pulled down nine boards for the Cougars.
Dybantsa set the BYU freshman scoring record, moving ahead of Danny Ainge’s 632 points while averaging 21.2 points in 1977-78.
But when it came to finding answers from an increasingly shortened rotation, BYU coach Kevin Young was at a loss.
In short, absent Richie Saunders after the senior suffered a season-ending ACL injury in the first minute of last Saturday’s overtime win over Colorado, the Cougars need to answer the bell.
Dell’Orso rang it for them.
Dell’Orso scored 15 points off the bench including a pair of 3-pointers in the first half to help the Wildcats lead by as much as 39-33 just before the break.
Dybantsa totaled 16 points, three rebounds and two assists, and Wright scored 11 to help the Cougars pull within four.
But Dell’Orso capped his 5-of-9 shooting first half with his third 3-pointer at the buzzer to help the Wildcats to a 42-35 halftime lead.
“Richie brings a lot of scoring, a lot of aggressiveness,” Dybantsa said after the game. “So I just tried to mimic what he gave us and try to do what he does.”
BYU made just 3-of-10 from the field to open the second half, and Arizona shot up to 57% to take a 13-point lead on Kharchenkov’s jumper eight minutes in.
Dybantsa had 19 points in the second half, including a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to seven, 73-66, with two minutes remaining. Davis capped a 7-0 run in just over 90 seconds to pull the Cougars within 73-68 in the final minute.
But Dell’Orso punctuated Arizona’s win with an open dunk off a turnover to give the home team a win in the series for the first time in five tries.
“We’ve just got competitive guys. I think we have a lot of belief in ourselves, no matter what situation we find ourselves in,” Young said. “And that was the case tonight against a really good basketball team.
“You have to give them a lot of credit, because they had a lot of guys who stepped up.”
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A former candidate for Gilbert mayor has opened the first Arizona location of a Founding Fathers-themed ice cream shop in Chandler.
Brooker’s Founding Flavors Ice Cream is a Utah-based ice cream shop centered around the early history of the United States. Female employees scoop cones in bonnets and dresses; male employees wear tricorn hats and coats. The ice cream flavors have names like Martha Washington’s Colonial Cotton Candy and Alexander Hamilton’s Not Throwing Away My Scoop.
On a trip to Utah in 2019, Arizonan Shane Krauser went to a Brooker’s and was blown away.
“I walked out of that, called my wife Janelle and I said, ‘We will own one of these,’” Krauser said.
The couple had no previous restaurant experience, but decided to open up the chain’s first location outside of Utah, choosing a storefront near the intersection of Chandler Boulevard and Dobson Road. The store opened on June 6.
Krauser loves how the shop creates conversation among customers about American history.
“I love history. I love the Founding Fathers. I love the ideals of America,” Krauser said. “It’s an amazing concept.”
Opening Founding Flavors isn’t political, it’s a ‘labor of love’
Krauser is a retired lawyer turned motivational speaker who addresses topics including “freedom, the proper role of government and the parameters of the U.S. and state constitutions,” according to his website.
In 2024, Krauser ran for Gilbert mayor, but withdrew his candidacy amid scrutiny over involvement with a past investment fraud scheme and his son’s appearance in a video with the Gilbert Goons, The Arizona Republic reported.
Although the shop plans to host events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the U.S., such as one for Constitution Day in September, Krauser said he does not see the ice cream store as related to his political career.
“The mayoral run was something to be involved in politically. This is more of a labor of love,” Krauser said. “This is not political in nature at all. It’s an ice cream shop with an American theme.”
Details: 2560 W. Chandler Blvd. #3, Chandler. brookersicecream.com, 480-881-6100.
Reach the reporter at reia.li@gannett.com. Follow @reia_reports on Instagram.
Arizona CEO accused of stealing millions
Jeffrey Gottfurcht, the now-former CEO of Mesa startupo Cyber Dive, is accused of stealing at least $1.5 million from the company to buy gifts for his girlfriend. FOX 10’s Brian Webb has more.
PHOENIX – An Arizona chief executive officer is facing major legal trouble after being accused of embezzling money from his company.
What we know:
Cyber Dive is an Arizona startup that sells child-safety smartphones, designed so parents can monitor their children’s online activity. The company is run out of a business complex in Mesa, but the startup is barely hanging on after the CEO allegedly took off with the money to spend on his girlfriend.
Jeffrey Gottfurcht is facing federal embezzlement charges. He stands accused of lying and doctoring documents to trick investors before running off with at least $1.5 million.
On the company Facebook page, Gottfurcht claimed to be the first rheumatoid arthritis sufferer to scale Mount Everest.
Local perspective:
Red flags first popped up at the company on Feb. 13, with strange occurrences coming into the office.
Derek Jackson, who co-founded Cyber Dive, recalled the moment the discrepancies came to light.
“They mentioned to me something about getting routing documentation for funds from an acquisition deal,” Jackson recounted. “They said ‘where are those documents?’ He said he was gonna send him at 3 p.m. today, and my response was what deal are you talking about?”
Dig deeper:
Court documents show Gottfurcht used the money to buy his escort girlfriend a Lamborghini, a four-bedroom house in Miami, and a diamond ring. The girlfriend has posted videos on TikTok, but her identity is hidden because she has not been charged with a crime.
When asked to confirm if Gottfurcht purchased the car, the diamond ring, and the house, Jackson responded, “Yes. So it gets deep. Yes, it gets very deep.”
“It’s a huge gut punch,” Jackson said regarding the impact on the startup. “I think it’s been challenging to stay motivated to keep the company going because when this happened, Jeff drained the account to zero.”
At the Cyber Dive headquarters, half the workforce was let go. Jackson is now serving as the interim chief executive officer, looking for new investors to keep the lights on while coming to grips with the loss of a partner and friend.
Jackson stated that the total amount of money taken is closer to $4 million.
“I was in the army. I was an intelligence officer. I was targeting people in ISIS. I don’t even hate terrorists as much as I hate Jeff right now,” Jackson said.
The other side:
No one answered the door at the Paradise Valley home Gottfurcht shares with his wife and three children. Court paperwork shows that his wife is seeking a divorce, and helped turn her husband in to the authorities.
What’s next:
Gottfurcht was previously arrested in Scottsdale in May over allegations of domestic violence. He remains behind bars on a $250,000 bond.
The Source: Information in this report was gathered from Derek Jackson, and from court documents.
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