GCU Ends 2010-11 Season With Loss to HPU

Saturday, March 5

Honolulu, HI

5:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Hawai'i Pacific

Brad Carroll had a game-high 17 points and hit 5-of-9 3-pointers in Saturday's season finale.

3/5/2011 9:42:43 PM | Men's Basketball

Antelopes Complete First Winning Season Since 2006-07

By: Steve Heath

Grand Canyon wrapped up its season with a 74-70 loss to Hawai’i Pacific at McCabe Gym in Honolulu Saturday.

The Antelopes (14-12, 9-7) made more field goals than the Sea Warriors (27-24), but were outshot at the free-throw line. HPU shot 26 free throws, making 22, and hit 15-of-18 in the second half. Grand Canyon had only eight attempts for the game, hitting six, and made one of two second-half tries.

“I thought we played well enough to win,” said GCU coach Russ Pennell. “We showed a lot of character and heart. I think that showed in how many more field goals we made, but you can’t win when you have that kind of free-throw discrepancy.

“I was proud of how our guys showed their poise and how our coaches showed poise. I felt we represented Grand Canyon in a first-class manner.”

When Braylon Pickrel hit one of two free throws at the 8:51 mark, GCU led 65-59. The Sea Warriors answered with the next nine points, four coming from the charity stripe.

Sophomore Brad Carroll led GCU with 17 points. Senior Rony Tchatchoua had 12 and junior Nick Witherill scored 10. Carroll hit 5-of-9 3-pointers and had a team-high four assists. Senior Gaby Ngoundjo had a team-best five rebounds.

“I thought we competed more (tonight) than we had the entire (four-game) trip,” said Carroll.

With a 14-12 overall mark, Grand Canyon had its first winning season since the 2006-07 campaign.

“We played hard. I know we lost the game and wanted to finish strong, but we were definitely better today than our last three games,” said Tchatchoua, who played his final game in a GCU uniform. “It was a tough loss, but it’s been good to play with these guys this year. It didn’t end like we wanted, but we had a good year.”

Grand Canyon gained some momentum at the end of the first half. Down five points with under 40 seconds remaining, Tchatchoua added a pair of free throws and Kyle Speed beat the halftime buzzer with a 3-pointer to tie it, 35-35.

To open the second half, GCU took the lead on a Witherill jumper. He added a 3-pointer shortly after for a 40-35 advantage. HPU fought back to tie it, 40-40, but the Antelopes answered with 3-pointers from Carroll and Steven Morin and a two-pointer from Tchatchoua.

“We really wanted to win for our seniors,” said junior Justin Wesolowski. “Everyone played hard and everyone did their job. It just didn’t go our way tonight.

“It doesn’t feel good now, but overall this was a very good season. We’re going to keep building and working hard. It looks good for the future.”

Box Score