GCU Finishes at Antelope Gym With Key Victory

Monday, February 21

GCU

7:15 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Notre Dame de Namur

Gaby Ngoundjo had a career-high six blocked shots in Monday's 63-58 win over NDNU.

2/21/2011 11:17:36 PM | Men's Basketball

'Lopes head to Hawaii 9-3 in PacWest Play

By: Steve Heath

Grand Canyon got within one game of first place in the Pacific West Conference with a 63-58 victory over Notre Dame de Namur in the home season finale at Antelope Gymnasium Monday.

GCU (14-8, 9-3) trails Chaminade and BYU-Hawai’i by one-game each (both teams are 10-2) heading into a regular-season ending four-game road trip in Hawai’i.

Monday’s contest was the last GCU basketball game played at Antelope Gymnasium. GCU will move into its new 5,000-seat, on-campus facility, Grand Canyon University Arena, next season.

The Antelopes finished 11-4 at home. It is the most wins at home since going 11-3 in the 2006-07 season. The 11 wins ties for fourth most in a season at Antelope Gymnasium, which opened during the 1994-95 season. GCU won 15 games each in 1995-96 and 1996-97. GCU's all-time record finishes at 155-90.

“I told our guys that this is something that will go down in history. In the last game played at Antelope Gym, they won. And, that was a lot better than the alternative,” said GCU coach Russ Pennell.

The win didn’t come easy. Notre Dame de Namur (4-19, 2-11) led after a low-scoring first 20 minutes, 16-15. It wasn’t until a 12-0 run early in the second half that the Antelopes began taking control.

Barret Robbins started it with a short jumper. Fletcher Wynn added a pair and Steven Morin drilled a 3-pointer for a 28-24 GCU lead. Brad Carroll scored five straight points, the first three on a long-range bomb. It gave GCU a 33-24 advantage with 11:40 to go.

NDNU knocked the lead down to two in the final minute, but Carroll went 6-for-6 at the line in the final 23.8 seconds.

“We had to have this game and it wasn’t an easy game to get,” said senior center Gaby Ngoundjo, who had a career-high six blocked shots. “We shot the ball better in the second half and played better defense. In the first half, our defense was good, but we picked up the intensity in the second half.”

Carroll led the Antelopes in scoring for the third straight game. He had 15 points. Junior point guard Kyle Speed had 11 points. Wynn had seven points and team-highs in rebounds (seven) and assists (four). Ngoundjo added six boards. Rony Tchatchoua also had seven points.

Grand Canyon takes on Hawai’i-Hilo Saturday at 10:30 p.m. Mountain Time (7:30 in Hawai’i) to begin the four-game trip. The Antelopes lost a heart-breaking 69-66 decision to Hilo on Senior Night Saturday.

“We need to bring that same defensive intensity that we had tonight and take it over to the islands,” said Speed. “But, we have to take it one game at a time. We know we have four tough games, but we can only play them one at a time ... We’ll start with Hilo and take it from there.”

The PacWest Conference champion and tournament champions from the California Collegiate Athletic Association and Great Northwest Athletic Conference will get automatic bids into the NCAA West Region. Five more at-large teams, chosen from the three conferences, will also be selected.

Box Score