Russell's big night leads GCU over Albany

Saturday, November 19

Uncasville, Conn.

6:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

1-2

Albany

2-2

ALBANY

Grand Canyon

11/19/2016 11:57:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team welcomed back a key member of their lineup as they earned their first win of the 2016-17 season with an 82-77 win over Albany in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Ct., on Saturday night.

"Just an overall great win," head coach Dan Majerle said. "We needed it bad. It's been a long road trip and so we needed a W."

DeWayne Russell recorded his third double-double of his career, as he scored a career-high 30 points and handed out 10 assists in 40 minutes of action. Russell was 11-of-19 from the field, including 3-of-6 from behind the arc, a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and added 3 rebounds and 2 steals.

"Thirty points and 10 assists—he just does a great job of taking care of the basketball and gives us confidence," Majerle said of Russell. "He's our floor leader and just a winner. We've known that all year long. We missed him the first two games. He had a terrific summer and has really worked hard on his shooting and as you can see, it has paid off."

"TJ (Benson) and Brendan (Sabean) got me in the gym a lot," Russell said of his offseason. "It was probably the hardest I've ever worked, so I had a lot of confidence to come out here and take the shots. There were a lot of shots coming my way and my teammates were finding me, so it was easy."

The Lopes (1-2) took an 11-point lead into half with Russell leading the way with 18 points and 5 assists. Joshua Braun and Gerard Martin each added 8 points in the first half and Darion Clark pulled down 6 boards. GCU shot 51.6 percent from the field, while holding Albany to 44 percent shooting.

With 7:22 remaining in the contest, GCU opened up a 15-point lead, 70-55, following a layup from Shaq Carr. The Great Danes then went on a 10-0 run over the next minute, including 7 points from Joe Cremo. The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes until Albany was able to cut the lead to two with less than a minute remaining in the game.

Running down the clock, Russell recorded his 10^thassist when he hit Braun on the wing and the Preseason WAC Player of the Year drilled a deep 3-pointer while drawing the foul. Braun knocked down the free throw to convert the 4-point play and push the Lopes' lead to six with 25 seconds remaining.

"Josh is just a competitor—huge," Majerle said. "He's a target of every defense. He's going to work to get shots. There was no bigger shot than the one he hit right in front of our bench, and that's what Josh does."
Braun was just happy to get the opportunity for the shot, hoping to make up for a foul he committed the previous position that he felt he shouldn't have made.

"I was hoping to make up for [the foul]," Braun said. "They were packed in a zone. I caught the ball pretty deep and the guy was off me a little bit. I'm just thankful I got the shot off and it happened to go in and I got fouled. I'm just thankful I got the opportunity to knock down the shot and make up for my mistake."

The Lopes finished with four players in double-figures as Braun and Oscar Frayer finished with 18 points and 12 points, respectively. Braun and Clark tied for the team-lead with 8 rebounds. GCU cleaned up their play from the first two games of the season with only 9 turnovers after committing 21 and 16 against Duke and Penn State. The Lopes also shot a season-best 49.2 percent from the field and 41.7 from 3-point range.

GCU concludes play in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament on Sunday, with a 4 p.m. MST matchup with Marist College (1-3). The Lopes will host Coppin State in their home opener on Friday, Nov. 25, at GCU Arena.