Antelopes to host national champs Wednesday

Coach Dan Nichols was searching for information Tuesday. Mike Golleher was given news he may not have been expecting.

Here's the deal, when former coach Scott Mossman scheduled Wednesday's game with Portland Bible College, people on campus were asking why. Why? Maybe the fact Portland Bible won the Association of Christian College Athletics National Championship in the school's first season last year is enough.

Or maybe the No. 4 national ranking PBC carries. Or maybe the 18-2 record, which comes without a loss since Dec. 2.

"Any game that we have from now on, we can't take lightly," sophomore center Mike Golleher said. "We can't take anybody lightly."

Portland Bible is the ACCA's national leader in scoring (89.1 ppg). PBC is second nationally in field goal shooting (49.7). Portland Bible is third in the nation in rebounding at a whopping 44.3 per game. PBC is first in assists at 19.9 per contest.

Freshman guard Austin Hodges is the nation's 10th leading scorer at 17.8 per game. Junior center Michael Cooper, who stands 6-9, is shooting 64.8 percent, hitting 94 of 145 field goals, which ranks third in the country. He is pulling down 13.2 rebounds per game, which ranks second.

"They're a championship team, and we've got to be ready," Golleher said.

Golleher, who started in Friday's win and has helped Grand Canyon win five of the seven games he's started, played in place of regular Engen Nurumbi for 15 minutes on Friday. Nurumbi (pictured) had scored in double figures in four straight games before failing to reach more than six his past two. That allowed David Cuen, who's shot 12 of 32 from the floor in his past two games, to take over the team's scoring lead at 14.2 ppg.

"We've got a lot of good stuff going right now," Golleher said. "There's a real vibe going. We have been very focused, talking with the other guys. We're very pumped and very stoked. There's a good sense of team unity."

Sure there is. A team beats a team it never beat before and knows it has a week-long trip to Hawaii lying ahead. But before guys like Brandon Dempster getting ready to pull out the surf boards, there is business to take care of in Antelope Gym on Wednesday.

"It's an awesome feeling playing at home," Golleher said. "We've got fans cheering for us. There's a lot of good talk around campus. It's just an amazing place to be. All of our games have been close. That's one guaranteed thing you will see with us, you will see an entertaining ball game."

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Grand Canyon University Athletics

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