GCU Loses Heartbreaker to Dixie State

Saturday, February 2

GCU Arena

6:30 PM

Grand Canyon

Dixie State

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/2/2013 9:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Suffer first loss at GCU Arena this season

In a battle between the Pacific West Conference’s top two teams, the Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team lost a heartbreaker to Dixie State, 65-64, in a game that much like last year came down to the final seconds. The Antelopes are now 17-5 overall and 8-3 in the PacWest, while the Red Storm improved to 14-4 overall and 9-1 in conference play.

The loss was the first for GCU this season at home, although they boast an impressive 13-1 mark at GCU Arena. The tightly-contested matchup saw 11 lead changes throughout.

Click here for postgame reaction from head coach Russ Pennell.

The ‘Lopes shot 35.2 percent (19-for-54) from the field, while the Red Storm posted a 43.5 mark (20-for-46). The two squads were evenly matched on the board with 34 rebounds; however, Dixie State held a slight advantage in points in the paint (20-18). GCU forced more turnovers (15), but Dixie State capitalized on the 13 'Lopes errors, which resulted in 22 Red Storm points.

For the ‘Lopes, Jerome Garrison had a game-high 16 points, while Joshua Lowery had 14 points. Blake Davis added a season-high 12 points.

Both teams played strong defense to open the game, with neither reaching the double-digit scoring mark until Dixie State drained two free throws to make it 11-6 with 14:06 on the clock. Six minutes later, GCU found themselves down by just one point, 15-14, in what was shaping up to be a low-scoring half.

A technical follow against the ‘Lopes sparked a rally for GCU as they reclaimed the lead, 19-18, with just over five minutes remaining in the first. The ‘Lopes extended that lead to five points, 30-25, after outscoring the Red Storm 11-7 over the next five minutes and carried that advantage into the half.

GCU was able to carry a lead into the locker room despite shooting just 29.2 percent (7-for-24) in the first 20 minutes. The Red Storm posted a 33.3 percent mark from the field (7-for-21). GCU held a slight advantage in rebounds, 17-16, while Dixie State scored more points in the paint (10-4).

The ‘Lopes were led by Garrison at the half with 10 points, while Davis added nine.

After making the first basket of the second half, the Red Storm responded by scoring nine unanswered points to take a 34-32 lead with 17 minutes to play. The game went back and forth for the next few minutes as the two teams traded baskets and exchanged leads.

Dixie State built a 51-43 lead with just over 10 minutes on the clock and held off GCU rallies for the next five minutes until the ‘Lopes made it a 60-58 game at the 4:56 mark. GCU maintained within striking distance of the Red Storm for the remainder of the game as it went down to the final seconds.

Lowery was fouled with 9.3 seconds on the clock and made one of two to pull within one point, 65-64. The ‘Lopes got the rebound on the missed free throw and quickly called timeout with 5.6 seconds remaining. Lowery just missed a jumper at the buzzer in the game that came down to the wire much like this same meeting last season.

The Red Storm posted an impressive field goal percentage in the final 20 minutes (52.0 percent), while GCU was also able to improve their mark to 40.0 percent (12-for-30).

The ‘Lopes will now hit the road for four straight in Northern California, beginning with Holy Names on Feb. 9 at 5 p.m. Fans can follow the action by visiting www.gculopes.com.

DSC 65, GCU 64