Grand Canyon snaps Dixie St. funk in Dane-dy fashion

Say goodbye to the streak.

Grand Canyon snapped Dixie State's three-game winning streak, and beat the Utah school for the first time in school history, 78-64 Friday night in Antelope Gym. It spoiled a road trip for the Dixie faithful who travelled in great numbers to support their team, bringing a band on the weekend trek to Phoenix.

"We look at this as kind of a catapult for us," GCU's cerebral point guard Dane Hill said after dishing out a career-high 10 assists. "It was really big for us. Milee (Karre) and Brandon (Dempster) had mentioned they had never beaten Dixie. We rebounded from what we thought was a really sub-par performance last night."

Grand Canyon (8-8) outworked Dixie State (8-7) in all the key phases, cleaning the glass by six more rebounds, shooting 52.6 percent to DSC's 38.8 and dishing out 24 assists to Dixie's 14. The Antelopes can thank King of the Hill for that.

"I really just want to be on the floor," said Hill, whose 10 dimes accentuated the floor leadership he exhibits with poise, even in treacherous situations. "I was just trying to make the extra pass to get some easy buckets."

Making the extra pass to teammates like Dave Cuen, who scored 21 points and pulled down nine rebounds while coming up with three steals. To guys like Karre (pictured), who found a rhythm, going 5 of 6 from the floor and 4 of 4 from the line, for 15 points and four assists. To Eric Cuen, whose game rises in different levels on a continuous basis. Eric Cuen had 13 points, three assists, two blocks and two steals in a five-tool type, multifaceted effort.

To players like Dempster, whose nose was searching for a little post-game publicity.

"Make sure you mention your teammates, Dane," Dempster said as if to call out his own number the way his three-point stroke speaks for itself -- on this night he was 3 of 5 from beyond the arc.

To guys like Michael Golleher, whose paint presence came alive the last two nights, this time for a season-best six points, three boards and a steal in 15 minutes.

"Mike's a tremendous guy because he understands his role," Hill said. "He knows he's not going to get all the minutes, but he accepts his role. If he can get some stickbacks, those are some things that can really change the momentum."

GCU forced 20 DSC turnovers, and converted those mistakes into 21 points. The Lopes outscored the school who is expected to publicly announce a mascot on Monday, 34-26 in the paint.

Dixie led only once in the first half, and the Antelopes controlled things by the time Dempster knocked down his first triple of the game at the 16:42 mark. Ben Hartman's three with 7:58 to play in the half gave DSC a 23-21 lead, but Eric Cuen's dunk tied the game to trigger a 7-0 GCU run. The Lopes later extended the lead to 13 before the break.

Dixie drew within four early in the second half, but Eric Cuen's layup with 8:14 to go put an 11-point cushion on Grand Canyon's lead.

"Just about as fun as it gets," Hill said. "Nights like this where we've got the crowd behind us and get a good turnout are really big for this team.

"It was one of our best team efforts of the year, and we were moving the ball really effectively. Winning like this just proves we can beat everybody in the conference. When we come and bring our A game, we know we can beat anybody."

Grand Canyon University Athletics

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