Hawaiian Breezin'

After a one-point loss to first-place Hawaii Pacific and a 34-point blowout at the hands of preseason nationally top-ranked BYU-Hawaii in the first two games of this Hawaiian trip, the ‘Lopes needed to win this one, and they did – in very convincing fashion.

Grand Canyon University led from start to finish, defeating Chaminade University, 78-58, tonight at McCabe Gym in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The Silverswords defeated the Antelopes, 71-62, on Jan. 7 in Phoenix. It was the PacWest opener for both schools. Point guard Steven Bennett had 30 points for Chaminade.

Tonight he had two.

GCU improved to 11-16 overall, 5-6 in the Pacific West Conference. Chaminade fell to 7-13, 4-7.

The game started out well for the ‘Lopes, with senior guard T.J. Benson (Tempe, AZ/Corona del Sol HS) draining a three-pointer after sophomore forward Matt Cousins was called for traveling on the Silverswords’ first possession.

Freshman guard Brad Carroll (Chandler, AZ/Corona del Sol HS) made a driving layup off a steal to make the score 5-2, and sophomore forward Justin Wesolowski (Mesa, AZ/Mountain View HS) made a short jumper to extend the lead to 7-4.

Junior forward Rony Tchatchoua (Little Rock, AR/Christian HS) made a put-back, Wesolowski hit another jumper and sophomore guard Nick Witherill (Phoenix, AZ/Highland HS) nailed a three-pointer. Junior forward Gaby Ngoundjo (Little Rock, AR/Christian HS) made a layup to give GCU a six-point lead, 16-10.

Ngoundjo made the front end of a one-and-one, but missed the second, and then made a short jumper in the lane. Benson made the second of two free throws. Ngoundjo blocked a shot, and then found Wesolowski cutting through the lane at the other end. Wesolowski was fouled while shooting, and made the second of two shots from the charity stripe.

Tchatchoua drew a blocking foul and hit two free throws. Witherill hit another three-pointer. Tchatchoua made a bank shot.

At halftime, the score was 27-20, ‘Lopes. Chaminade made just five of 22 shots in the first half (22.7 percent), including 0-for-6 on three-pointers. GCU didn’t shoot much better, 10-for-28 (35.7 percent), 2-for-9 from three-point land. The Silverswords outrebounded the ‘Lopes, 20-16.

What was the most impressive statistics on the first-half scoresheet? At the bottom of the turnover column for GCU, it read “2.” And across from Bennett’s name, under total points, it said “0.”

Excellent defense by Witherill and Tchatchoua was the primary reason for that.

The second half started much like the first. Wesolowski made a three-pointer after Cousins, who had 12 points in the first half (eight of them on free throws), made a layup. Ngoundjo made a layup. Carroll made a reverse layup to give the ‘Lopes a 10-point lead, 34-24.

Freshman guard Steven Morin (Scottsdale, AZ/Saguaro HS) hit a three-pointer off a pass from Witherill.

Bennett scored his first two points with about 14 and a half minutes left in the game, on a layup after a steal.

Ngoundjo made two free throws. Benson and Carroll nailed three-pointers. Tchatchoa made a layup, and Benson swished another three-pointer, making it a 20-point game. Ngoundjo found Wesolowski open for a short jumper. Wesolowski dunked.

When head coach Russ Pennell called a timeout with 7:11 remaining in the game, it was 54-36, ‘Lopes. And like Drew Brees of the world champion New Orleans Saints, he told his team to finish strong.

It did. Wesolowski made a three-pointer on a pass from Ngoundjo. Witherill hit a trey on a feed from Carroll.

That pretty much was all she wrote.

Four players scored in double figures: Wesolowski, 16; Tchatchoua, 14; Benson, 12; and Witherill, 11. Ngoundjo had nine points and 11 rebounds, and Wesolowski had six rebounds, three of them at the offensive end.

GCU had seven blocked shots and eight steals in the game. It shot 60 percent in the second half (15-for-25), including 57.1 percent (8-for-14) on three-pointers. It made 18 of 25 free throws (72 percent) in the game.

Cousins finished with 27 points for Chaminade, 15 of which came from the free-throw line.

The ‘Lopes play Hawaii-Hilo in the final game of this trip on Saturday on the big island.

Notes

Chaminade led second-place Dixie State by 20 points with 7:49 left in the first half on Tuesday, but the Red Storm outscored the Swords by 31 points over the final 28 minutes to win, 83-72.

Bennett, a 5-foot-6 junior, led Chaminade in scoring with 20 points. Cousins had 16 points and seven rebounds.

Bennett ranks first in the PacWest in assists with 5.7 per game.

Chandler Pearson, a 6-3 junior guard, is third in the conference in rebounding with 7.9 per game. Shane Hanson, a junior forward, leads the league in three-point field goals made (44).

Chaminade has the second-worst scoring defense in the PacWest at 75.1 points per game. GCU has the second best at 67.3.

Neither team excels at free-throw shooting. GCU is sixth in the conference with a .648 percentage, while Chaminade is eighth at .642. Both teams rank near the bottom of the nine-team league in field-goal percentage as well. The ‘Lopes are sixth at .433 and the Swords are eighth at .407.

Chaminade is an excellent rebounding team, however. It ranks second with 37.2 boards per game, while GCU is seventh with 30.5.

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Grand Canyon University Athletics

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