Braun's 20 Points Guide Lopes to Win Over St. Edward's

Saturday, December 20

GCU Arena

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

6-7

St. Edward's

10-0

St. Edward's

Grand Canyon

DeWayne Russell scored 15 points against St. Edward's

Photo by: Darryl Webb

Braun's 20 Points Guide Lopes to Win Over St. Edward's

12/20/2014 8:15:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GCU welcomes New Mexico to GCU Arena on Dec. 23

The Grand Canyon University men's basketball team (6-7) scored a season-high 81 points in their rout of visiting St. Edward's University (10-0) tonight at GCU Arena. For the second straight game and fourth time this season, the Antelopes shot over 50.0 percent, going 33-for-59 from the field (55.9 percent).

Click here for Michael Potter's postgame interview with head coach Dan Majerle.
Click here for Michael Potter's postgame interview with Joshua Braun.

After leading by four at halftime, GCU outscored the Toppers 43-21 over the final 20 minutes to secure their largest margin of victory this season behind a 60.7 field goal percentage in the second half. SEU shot 32.8 percent (21-for-64) for the game, and were held to just a 6-for-29 mark (20.7 percent) in the second half.

Joshua Braun led the squad with 20 points, his third straight outing in double figures. DeWayne Russell added 15 points, while Kerwin Smith matched his career-best with 12 points.

The first half went back and forth until the Lopes used a 6-0 run to build a 29-23 advantage with four and a half minutes on the clock. That run spanned nearly five minutes after the Toppers knotted the score at 23 with nine minutes to play.

The two teams traded baskets over the next few minutes as the Lopes carried a 38-34 lead into the break. GCU was led by Braun's 15 points at the half, as the redshirt freshman went 6-for-9 from the floor.

The Lopes shot 51.6 percent (16-for-31) over the first 20 minutes, compared to a 42.9 percent mark (15-for-35) for SEU.

GCU opened the second half on a 14-5 run in the first six minutes to build a 52-39 lead. SEU would only come as close as seven points before the Lopes built their lead to over 20 points with under seven minutes on the clock. The Lopes' defense pressure held SEU without a field goal for the final 11 minutes of the game

The Lopes held the 42-30 advantage in points in the paint and pulled down a season-best 49 rebounds.

GCU continues their season-long homestand with a 7 p.m. game against New Mexico on Tuesday, Dec. 23 at 7 p.m. Fans unable to attend can follow live by tuning in to KXXT 1010 AM Family Values Radio or watch live on Cox7.

GCU 81, SEU 55