Men's Basketball Drops First PacWest Contest

Thursday, January 10

St. George, UT

7:30 PM

Grand Canyon

Dixie State

Braylon Pickrel

1/10/2013 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Dixie State snaps GCU's season-long 13-game win streak

The Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team saw their season-long 13-game win streak come to an end with a 71-66 loss tonight at Dixie State in St. George, Utah. The Red Storm improved to 10-4 overall and 5-1 in the Pacific West Conference, while the Antelopes are now 14-3 overall and 5-1 in conference play.

Postgame reaction from head coach Russ Pennell can be viewed here.

The 13 straight wins marked the longest such overall streak for the ‘Lopes since winning 22 straight from Feb. 15, 1988 – Jan. 3, 1989, a record that spanned two seasons, including the last national championship season during the 1987-88 campaign. The win streak was also the longest single-season stretch since winning 13 straight in that 1987-88 season, as that squad did so from Dec. 21, 1987-Jan. 19, 1988.

GCU posted a 39.6 field goal percentage (21-for-53) in the game, including an 86.9 mark from the free throw line (20-for-23). The ‘Lopes won the battle on the boards, 33-29, but an impressive 52.0 percent mark (26-for-50) from the field by Dixie State was too much to overcome.

Braylon Pickrel led the offensive effort for GCU with 14 points, while Killian Larson added 12 points and Joshua Lowery had 11. Pickrel also led the squad with seven rebounds.

The ‘Lopes shot 41.3 percent from the field (12-for-29) in the first half, while the Red Storm posted a 48.0 field goal percentage (12-for-25). GCU was aided by making six of their seven free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes.

GCU built an early 5-2 lead, but the Red Storm answered with a 4-0 run to take their first lead of the game with just over 16 minutes to play and extended that advantage to 10-5 over the next three minutes. The ‘Lopes used a 4-0 run to pull within one point, 10-9, with just over 12 minutes to play.

Dixie State would reclaim a five-point advantage before GCU once again pulled within one point at 14-13 at the 10-minute mark. A three-point conversion by Larson put the ‘Lopes ahead 16-14 with 8:57 on the clock. The two teams traded the lead for the next few minutes, with neither holding more than a three-point advantage and a number of tied scores in that time.

Both teams were held scoreless for over two minutes until a Dixie State free throw broke a 23-23 tie with under four minutes remaining in the half. GCU then scored five answered points to take their largest lead of the half at 28-24 with 2:58 on the clock. The ‘Lopes would not relinquish their lead before halftime, holding off a Dixie State rally as Lowery drained two free throws to give GCU a 32-29 lead heading into the locker room.

The Red Storm opened the second half on a 7-2 run over the first two and a half minutes to take a 37-34 lead. Blake Davis knotted the score at 39 with a three-pointer at the 16:05 mark, but a 9-0 Red Storm run gave Dixie State the 48-39 advantage with 11:53 to play as the ‘Lopes were held scoreless for nearly five minutes. The Red Storm took their first double-digit lead of the contest, 50-40, with just under 11 minutes on the clock.

GCU came within four points twice over the next three minutes before the Red Storm regained a nine-point advantage at 63-54 with 3:49 to play. The game went basket-for-basket for the next minute until Dixie State once again held a 10-point lead at 68-58 with just over two minutes on the clock.

The ‘Lopes would close the gap to three points, 69-66, with five seconds to play after outscoring Dixie State 8-1 in a two-minute span, but GCU ran out of the time in their comeback effort as the Red Storm scored the final two points of the contest. Dixie State shot even better in the second half (56.0 percent) en route to their fourth straight win.

The ‘Lopes will now travel to Fresno, Calif., for a contest at Fresno Pacific on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (Arizona time). Fans can follow the action live by visiting www.gculopes.com.

DSC 71, GCU 66