Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus San Diego State on January 21, 2026 , Win , 70, to, 69
M Basketball
vs San Diego State
W 70-69
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Monday, February 13
GCU Arena
6:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
75
vs
59
Academy of Art
Pickrel had 19 points, 11 boards and 6 blocks tonight.
GCU Wins Fourth Straight With Win Over Art U
2/13/2012 9:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team grabbed their fourth-straight victory tonight with a 75-59 win over Academy of Art at Grand Canyon University Arena in Phoenix, Ariz.
The win improves GCU to 14-7 overall, 8-5 in the Pacific West Conference. AAU falls to 3-21, 1-13 in conference play.
The Antelopes returned home tonight after playing their previous five games on the road. All told, GCU spent 12 of the last 18 days on the road.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Arts, they played extremely hard and tough,” said head coach Russ Pennell. “But I thought tonight we were running in mud. I think we were able at Cal Baptist on Saturday to keep the intensity up because we were still on the road. I was concerned that tonight we may be like this. But what I am proud of is how we fought to get through this. We are getting mentally stronger to win these types of games even when we are not at our best.”
“I think we were a little tired with the road trip in Hawai’i and then having to go right back to Riverside to face Cal Baptist,” added junior Braylon Pickrel. “It played a little bit of a factor, but I thought we played though it and limited how much of a factor it was."
Grand Canyon looked early on to be suffering no ill effects from their road swing, jumping out to a 33-21 lead with 3:50 left in the opening half. From there the Urban Knights began to mount a comeback, using a 10-0 run to get within two at 33-31, going into intermission.
After exchanging the lead on three occasions to open the second half, GCU would take the lead for good on a three-point jumper by Kyle Speed at the 13:27 mark.
The Knights would stay within six for most of the half, but an 8-0 Antelopes run gave GCU a 66-54 lead with 3:49 left in the game. Braylon Pickrel, who scored a career-high tying 19 points, scored six points in the stretch that gave the ‘Lopes their sixth win in the last eight games.
“We had faith in the system and our coaches during the down times,” added Pickrel. “Coach Russ keeps telling us to trust in the process and what we are doing. We saw that it had results at the beginning of season and knew we had to get back to doing that, playing free and loose.”
Pickrel added a season-high 11 boards and six blocks in addition to his 19 points. Freshman Jerome Garrison continued to hold the hot hand, adding 15 points. Justin Wesolowski and Speed chipped in 11.
The Antelopes committed 19 turnovers in the game, but only four over the game’s final 10 minutes. After being outrebounded 18-15 in the first half, GCU would rally to win the battle on the glass, 41-35.
“These guys on this team are extremely close and believe in each other,” said Pennell. “We are not coaching any differently now than we have at any other time this season. There is a process you must go through to become a championship caliber team - we are going through that. We are starting to show signs of where we want to be. In a nutshell, our unity has allowed us to be successful.”
Grand Canyon is back in action next Monday, Feb. 20, against BYU-Hawai’i at GCU Arena. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.
GCU 75 AAU 59
The win improves GCU to 14-7 overall, 8-5 in the Pacific West Conference. AAU falls to 3-21, 1-13 in conference play.
The Antelopes returned home tonight after playing their previous five games on the road. All told, GCU spent 12 of the last 18 days on the road.
“I don’t want to take anything away from Arts, they played extremely hard and tough,” said head coach Russ Pennell. “But I thought tonight we were running in mud. I think we were able at Cal Baptist on Saturday to keep the intensity up because we were still on the road. I was concerned that tonight we may be like this. But what I am proud of is how we fought to get through this. We are getting mentally stronger to win these types of games even when we are not at our best.”
“I think we were a little tired with the road trip in Hawai’i and then having to go right back to Riverside to face Cal Baptist,” added junior Braylon Pickrel. “It played a little bit of a factor, but I thought we played though it and limited how much of a factor it was."
Grand Canyon looked early on to be suffering no ill effects from their road swing, jumping out to a 33-21 lead with 3:50 left in the opening half. From there the Urban Knights began to mount a comeback, using a 10-0 run to get within two at 33-31, going into intermission.
After exchanging the lead on three occasions to open the second half, GCU would take the lead for good on a three-point jumper by Kyle Speed at the 13:27 mark.
The Knights would stay within six for most of the half, but an 8-0 Antelopes run gave GCU a 66-54 lead with 3:49 left in the game. Braylon Pickrel, who scored a career-high tying 19 points, scored six points in the stretch that gave the ‘Lopes their sixth win in the last eight games.
“We had faith in the system and our coaches during the down times,” added Pickrel. “Coach Russ keeps telling us to trust in the process and what we are doing. We saw that it had results at the beginning of season and knew we had to get back to doing that, playing free and loose.”
Pickrel added a season-high 11 boards and six blocks in addition to his 19 points. Freshman Jerome Garrison continued to hold the hot hand, adding 15 points. Justin Wesolowski and Speed chipped in 11.
The Antelopes committed 19 turnovers in the game, but only four over the game’s final 10 minutes. After being outrebounded 18-15 in the first half, GCU would rally to win the battle on the glass, 41-35.
“These guys on this team are extremely close and believe in each other,” said Pennell. “We are not coaching any differently now than we have at any other time this season. There is a process you must go through to become a championship caliber team - we are going through that. We are starting to show signs of where we want to be. In a nutshell, our unity has allowed us to be successful.”
Grand Canyon is back in action next Monday, Feb. 20, against BYU-Hawai’i at GCU Arena. Tipoff is slated for 6:30 p.m.
GCU 75 AAU 59
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