GCU beats nationally-ranked St. Cloud State

Saturday, November 20

GCU

7:15 p.m.

Grand Canyon

St. Cloud State

Gaby Ngoundjo (12) had 10 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks against St. Cloud State Saturday.

11/20/2010 9:52:05 PM | Men's Basketball

Battle back from early deficit

By: Steve Heath

Grand Canyon battled back from a slow start to knock off nationally-ranked St. Cloud State, a Final Four team in 2010, 71-65, in the GCU Tip-Off Classic at Antelope Gymnasium Saturday.

Sophomore guard Brad Carroll (Chandler, Ariz., Corona del Sol, Milwaukee) had a team-high 14 points. Senior center Gaby Ngoundjo (Douala, Cameroon, Little Rock Christian, Charlotte) had 10 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots and junior guard Nick Witherill (Phoenix, Ariz., Highland, Washington State) added 10 points in the victory.

St. Cloud State is ranked No. 3 in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Top 25, No. 8 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Poll and No. 9 in the USA Today/ESPN poll.

“There’s a reason why St. Cloud was a Final Four team, they’re very talented,” said GCU coach Russ Pennell. “We got punched in the mouth early. We could have laid down and gone through the motions, but we really fought and played hard.

“These are the type of games you can build on. We know what we’re capable of when adversity hits.”

Grand Canyon (2-1) trailed 10-1, went to the 12:24 mark of the first half before hitting its first field goal (a Ngoundjo jumper), but continued to fight through a cold-shooting night to get the victory.

“We just kept battling,” said Carroll. “We were down 10-1 and we kept fighting and kept our intensity up on defense.”

The ‘Lopes got their first lead, 29-27, on a Carroll jumper early in the second half (18:32), but St. Cloud came back to take the lead and extend it to five, 41-36, with 12:23 to go.

A tip-in by Ngoundjo rolled in at the 9:07 mark to give GCU a 45-44 lead and junior point guard Kyle Speed (Seattle, Wash., Lake Washington, Johnson County CC) stopped and popped in a 3-pointer on a fastbreak for a 48-44 advantage.

Again, St. Cloud came back. It wasn’t until two free throws from Ngoundjo at the :57 mark that GCU was able to get the lead for good. In the game’s final 1:08, the ‘Lopes hit 8-of-10 free throws.

“We hit them when it counted and I think our guys realize that hitting free throws can win ballgames,” said Pennell.

For the game, GCU hit 26-of-34 (76.5 percent) from the line and had only seven turnovers. St. Cloud State had 17 turnovers.

Grand Canyon shot only 33.9 percent from the field, but its defense did its job on St. Cloud, holding it to only 34.7 percent.

GCU will host its Thanksgiving Classic with games Friday and Saturday, both starting at 7:15 p.m., against Washburn and Seattle Pacific, respectively.

Box Score