Men's Hoops Overcomes 14-point Deficit to Win 10th Straight

Monday, December 17

GCU Arena

6:00 PM

Grand Canyon

Fresno Pacific

Camyn Boone

Photo by: Darryl Webb

Men's Hoops Overcomes 14-point Deficit to Win 10th Straight

12/17/2012 8:14:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Remain perfect at home and in the PacWest Conference

The Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team defeated visiting Fresno Pacific, 75-73, tonight in dramatic fashion as they overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half. The win was the 10^th straight for the Antelopes, who improved to 11-2 overall and 3-0 in Pacific West Conference play. The Sunbirds fell to 6-5 overall and 1-2 in the conference.

The last time that GCU put together a 10-game win streak was from Feb. 7-March 9, 2007. The ‘Lopes have also now won nine straight home contests.

“We were fortunate to win tonight," said head coach Russ Pennell. "The positives I take from this is that this team doesn’t quit, they fight hard. I thought we were flat and taking nothing away from FPU, I thought our semester caught up with us. I just sensed that we weren’t quite ready to play. We tried to right the ship at halftime, but when you are playing a good team like Fresno, it takes awhile."

Joshua Lowery was the high-scorer for GCU with a season-high-tying 21 points, while Killian Larson posted his third double-double of the season with 14 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. Braylon Pickrel and Jerome Garrison also scored in double figures for the ‘Lopes, with 12 and 11, respectively.

“We were down by 14 at one point and mentally, that breaks you down," said Pickrel. "The guys fought really hard and never gave up even though it became harder and harder to make those pushes. Fresno is a good team. It was definitely a gutsy win for us."

For the contest, GCU shot 32.8 percent from the field (21-for-64) and grabbed 55 rebounds.

GCU shot just 28.6 percent from the field (10-for-35) in the first half, including a 1-for-10 mark from behind the arc (10.0 percent). The ‘Lopes committed 12 turnovers, resulting in 12 Sunbirds points, but carried a heavy advantage in rebounds, 34-19, and were able to score 14 second chance points.

Larson led the way with 10 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, while Lowery added nine points.

The Sunbirds took an early 4-0 lead as the ‘Lopes were unable to score until Larson drained two free throws with 17:35 to play in the first. Fresno held GCU at bay for most of the half, as the closest the ‘Lopes would come was three points until they made it a two-point contest at 18-16 with just under nine minutes on the clock.

Fresno then outscored the ‘Lopes 14-7 over the next five minutes as they built a 32-23 lead, the back of end of which was back-to-back three-pointers. GCU went on a 6-0 run to pull within 32-29 with 2:20 remaining in the half and made it a two-point game once again at 34-32 via a Brad Carroll three-pointer with one a half minutes to play. Fresno scored the final four points of the half to carry a 38-32 advantage into the locker room.

The ‘Lopes overcame a poor first half, as they improved to a 37.9 percent field goal perce (11-for-29) and made five three-pointers. GCU was also significantly better from the free throw line, draining 16-of-20 attempts.

GCU opened the second half on a 6-0 run in the first minute to tie the score at 38. The Sunbirds answered with a 6-0 run of their own to build a 44-38 lead with 16:50 to play in the contest and outscored GCU 9-2 since the tied score early in the second. Fresno took their largest lead of the contest at 14 points via a 14-6 run over the next four minutes.

The ‘Lopes made it a single digit game when they pulled within nine points with under nine minutes to play. Justin Foreman drained two free throws to make it a 63-60 contest with 7:08 remaining after GCU went on a 16-5 run. Lowery scored back to back layups to pull GCU within one point on two occasions, but the Sunbirds had an answer for both of those, eventually giving themselves a five-point advantage at 69-64 with under five minutes on the clock.

“One of the hardest things to do in sports is overcome a large deficit," added Pennell. "We have so much depth, so when you make that push, you can go to fresh bodies. Blake Davis had two unbelievable defensive plays. I thought we found a good rhythm last three minutes and I think the fans help us a lot. We have the best fans at the Division II level. Tonight they were loud, especially when we made that run and that fueled us."

Fresno reclaimed a six-point lead, 73-67, with 2:50 on the clock before GCU went on a 7-0 run aided by three-pointers from Garrison and Lowery to take their first lead of the game, 74-73, with just under one minute to play. GCU maintained that lead until Larson was fouled with less than one second to play and converted one of two free throws to seal the victory.

“I feel like you should prepare the same for every game, but there is an advantage to playing at home in this arena and in front of this crowd," Pickrel said. "You want to protect your home court and there is definitely an advantage to playing here."

GCU will now be off until they host Northern New Mexico in a non-conference matchup on Dec. 29 at 6 p.m. in GCU Arena. Fans can follow the action via live video by visiting www.gculopes.com.

Fans that may have missed the game or would like to watch it all over again can see the archived video at www.gculopes.com/showcase.

GCU 75, FPU 73