Men's Hoops Wins 13th Straight, Remain Perfect in PacWest Play

Saturday, January 5

San Diego, CA

4:00 PM

Grand Canyon

Point Loma

Steve Morin

Photo by: Darryl Webb

Men's Hoops Wins 13th Straight, Remain Perfect in PacWest Play

1/5/2013 5:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Improve to 14-2 overall with victory over Point Loma

The Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team picked up a 63-51 victory over Point Loma today in San Diego, Calif. The win, which was the 13^th consecutive for GCU, improved the Antelopes to 14-2 overall and kept their Pacific West Conference record spotless at 5-0. The Sea Lions fell to 3-8 overall and 0-4 in conference play.

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

The 13 straight wins mark 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 current win streak is 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.

The 14-2 record to begin the season also marks its best start for the program since going 15-2 in 1996-97, when GCU posted a 23-6 overall mark and advanced to the second round of the Division II tournament.

GCU posted a 40.0 field goal percentage in the game (18-for-45), and made 10 of their 22 three-point attempts. The total marked the second-most in a game this season behind 11 made three-pointers on Nov. 10 versus Northern State as part of the Disney Classic.

Braylon Pickrel led the squad with a season-high 17 points, while Steve Morin added 14 points and Joshua Lowery had 12.

The ‘Lopes shot 50.0 percent from the field (11-for-22) in the first half, including an impressive 7-for-12 mark from behind the arc. GCU held the Sea Lions to a 33.3 field goal percentage (6-for-18), and also held the advantage in rebounds, 16-9.

Morin and Pickrel accounted for 21 of GCU’s 24 points over the first 15 minutes of the first half and contributed 14 and 10 points in the first 20 minutes, respectively. Morin’s point total in the first tied the most for him this season.

GCU got on the board first via a Justin Foreman three-pointer, but the Sea Lions scored six unanswered points until Pickrel knotted the score at six with a three-pointer of his own with 16 and a half minutes to play in the first.

The ‘Lopes made four of their first five attempts from behind the arc to build a 14-9 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the half, but a 10-7 Sea Lions run over the next six minutes made it a one possession contest at 21-19 at the six minute mark. GCU would only lead by as many as four points for the remainder of the half until Lowery drained a jumper to give the ‘Lopes a 29-23 advantage with a minute on the clock.

A Morin three-pointer with just seconds left on the clock gave the ‘Lopes their largest lead of the half at nine points, 32-23.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Pickrel and Lowery to open the second half gave GCU their first double-digit lead of the contest, 38-23, with under 18 minutes to play. In total, the ‘Lopes outscored Point Loma 11-0 in the first three and a half minutes of the second half to build a 20-point lead at 43-23.

Point Loma was unable to score their first points of the second half until five minutes had expired off the clock. After GCU had built a game-high 22 point lead, 52-30, the Sea Lions scored seven unanswered points to make the score 52-37 with nine minutes remaining in the game.

The Sea Lions would come as close as nine points, 56-47, following a 10-4 run spanning the next five minutes before being forced to foul. GCU went 7-for-8 from the free throw line at that point, while allowing four more points to Point Loma before time expired.

GCU will next be in action when they travel to take on Dixie State on Thursday, Jan. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Fans can follow the action live by visiting www.gculopes.com.

GCU 63, PLNU 51