No. 22 GCU Wins OT Thriller in Home Finale

Tuesday, February 26

GCU Arena

6:30 PM

Grand Canyon

BYU - Hawaii

Killian Larson

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/26/2013 9:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Will play regular season finale on Saturday at Azusa Pacific

The No. 22 Grand Canyon University men’s basketball team posted a dramatic, 75-73 overtime win over BYU-Hawaii tonight at GCU Arena. With the victory, the Antelopes improved to 23-5 overall and 14-3 in the Pacific West Conference, while the Seasiders fell to 14-11 overall and 11-6 in conference play.

The win concluded another stellar season for the ‘Lopes on their home court, as they posted a 15-1 record at GCU Arena.

Click here for the postgame interview with head coach Russ Pennell.

The tightly contested game saw eight tied scores and nine lead changes.

The 23 wins in a single season are the most by an Antelope squad since the 1996-97 team also won 23 games. The 42 two-season win total (19 last season) is the most since GCU won 46 over the 1995-96 (23) and 1996-97 (23) campaigns.

Killian Larson had a season-high 17 rebounds, 14 of which came on the defensive end. Larson was also the high-scorer for the ‘Lopes with 17 points, while Joshua Lowery finished with 12 points and Braylon Pickrel had 10.

The ‘Lopes shot 36.8 percent (21-for-57) throughout the game while BYU-Hawaii was 26-for-59 from the field (44.1 percent). GCU had a strong showing on the boards, grabbing 45 rebounds and limiting the Seasiders to just 20. The ‘Lopes were also aided by 24 points off the bench and made 82.4 percent of their free throws (28-for-34).

The Seasiders stormed out to an early 11-4 lead, thanks in part to two three-pointers made at the shot clock buzzer in the first six minutes of the half. GCU used an 11-4 run to knot the score at 15 with 9:27 on the clock. The ‘Lopes took their first lead of the game, 20-19, following a three-point conversion by Larson with just over seven minutes to play.

After the ‘Lopes took a five point lead with 5:52 on the clock, the teams traded baskets until GCU extended their advantage to seven, 32-25, with under three minutes remaining. The Seasiders then used a 6-0 run to make it a one point contest, 32-31, at the half.

GCU shot 45.5 percent from the field (10-for-22) in the first 20 minutes, while BYU-Hawaii posted a slightly higher mark at 47.8 percent (11-for-23). The ‘Lopes pulled down 17 rebounds compared to 10 for the Seasiders, but BYU-Hawaii took advantage of eight GCU turnovers for 11 points.

Lowery was the high-scorer for GCU at the half with six points, while Larson had a team-best eight rebounds. The ‘Lopes saw over half of their points (17) come off the bench in the first half.

BYU-Hawaii opened the second half by scoring eight unanswered points and reclaiming a 39-32 advantage in the first two minutes. The ‘Lopes closed the gap to 41-40 with just under 15 minutes to play and posted the fourth tied score of the contest at 46 with 11:11 on the clock.

Steve Morin drained a three-pointer to give GCU a 49-46 lead and a Jerome Garrison layup made it five points with nine and a half minutes remaining. Garrison drained two free throws to match GCU’s largest lead of the game thus far at 53-46 and Barret Robbins made a pair at the charity stripe to make it 55-46 with six and a half minutes to play.

BYU-Hawaii tied the score at 55 after scoring nine unanswered points after the next two minutes. The two squads went back and forth before GCU reclaimed a five-point lead, 63-58, with a minute and a half on the clock. The Seasiders would once again tie the score at 67 via a three-pointer with 10 seconds remaining and two missed free throws by Larson forced extra minutes on the clock, the second time this season that GCU has played an overtime period.

GCU was able to remain in control of the lead for most of the second half despite shooting just 28.6 percent from the field (8-for-28).

The Seasiders scored first in overtime, but Pickrel posted six points in the first three minutes to help GCU to a 73-71 lead. Both teams scored just two more points for the remainder of the period as a last second three-point attempt by BYU-Hawaii fell short at the buzzer.

The ‘Lopes will conclude the regular season portion of their schedule when they travel to take on Azusa Pacific on Saturday at 9 p.m. (Arizona time). Fans can follow the action live by visiting www.gculopes.com.

GCU 75, BYUH 73 OT