'Lopes Score 105 in Win Over ARTU

Thursday, February 14

San Francisco, CA

8:30 PM

Grand Canyon

105

Academy of Art

Killian Larson

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/14/2013 10:48:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Interview with Russ Pennell inside

The Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team defeated Academy of Art, 105-78, tonight in San Mateo, Calif. With the win, the Antelopes improved to 20-5 overall and 11-3 in the Pacific West Conference, while the Urban Knights fell to 7-13 overall and 5-8 in conference play.

The 20 wins are the most since GCU won 21 games during the 2006-07 campaign. The ‘Lopes also recorded a new season-high for points and surpassed the highest point total in head coach Russ Pennell’s era, which had previously been 100 points on March 4, 2010 against Hawai’i Pacific.

Click here for audio of Pennell's postgame interview.

Killian Larson and Justin Foreman both recorded a new season-high in points, with 25 and 17, respectively. Three others also scored in double figures for the ‘Lopes, as Braylon Pickrel had 16 points, Joshua Lowery had 11 points and Blake Davis added 10 points.

The ‘Lopes shot 56.1 percent from the field (32-for-57), including a 50.0 percent mark from beyond the arc (13-for-26). The 13 made three-pointers were also a new season-high for GCU as they had previously made 11 three-pointers on Nov. 10, 2012 against Northern State in the Disney Classic.

GCU took a 5-3 advantage with 18:56 on the clock and did not surrender that lead for the remainder of the game. The ‘Lopes led by as many as 11 points in the game’s first seven minutes as they were an impressive 8-for-10 from the field. In that time, GCU also drained five of their six three-point attempts.

The ‘Lopes doubled the Urban Knights’ point total, 32-16, with 11:03 on the clock and claimed their largest lead of the half at 20 points (48-28) nine minutes later. Academy of Art used a 6-0 run to close the gap to 14 points (48-34) with just under two minutes remaining. However, the ‘Lopes closed out the half with a 6-3 run to carry a 54-37 advantage into the locker room.

The ‘Lopes posted one of their best first-half shooting percentages, going 14-for-24 (58.3 percent) from the field and made half of their three-point attempts (7-for-14). GCU narrowly outrebounded the Urban Knights, 12-11, but were able to score 14 points off of seven Academy of Art turnovers. The ‘Lopes had three players in double-figures after just 20 minutes, with Pickrel leading the way with 11 points. Larson and Davis both added 10 points.

GCU’s first half point total marked their most for the season, surpassing the 47 points scored against Arizona Christian on Nov. 26, 2012. It also marked the most in a half against a PacWest foe this season, as their previous high was 44 points (second half) in their last contest at Notre Dame de Namur.

The ‘Lopes came out firing in the second half, extending their lead to 24 points (74-50) at the 13:07 mark after Brad Carroll drained the 12th three-pointer for GCU, marking the new season-high. GCU didn’t slow down at that point as they outscored the Urban Knights 18-10 over the next six minutes to claim a 92-60 lead, their largest of the game.

Micah Fetters was responsible for the 13th three-point basket for GCU with just over one minute to play.

The closest Academy of Art would come for the remainder of the contest was 25 points as the 'Lopes shot 54.5 percent (18-for-33) from the field and once again made half of their three-pointers (6-for-12).

The ‘Lopes will wrap-up their four-game road trip when they take on Dominican (CA) on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. (Arizona time). Fans can follow the action live by visiting www.gculopes.com.

GCU 105, AAU 78