GCU Rally Falls Short in Loss to UTPA

Saturday, January 24

Edinburg, TX

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

11-10, 2-2WAC

Texas-Pan American

8-13, 2-3WAC

Grand Canyon

Texas-Pan American

Braun had 25 in the loss

Photo by: Darryl Webb

1/24/2015 7:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Grand Canyon dropped a heartbreaker tonight to Texas-Pan American, 73-72, at the UTPA Fieldhouse in Edinburg, Tex.

The loss drops GCU to 11-10, 2-2 in the Western Athletic Conference. UTPA improves to 8-13, 2-3 in the conference.

The Antelopes trailed by as many as 10 in the second half and were down 66-59 with 4:09 left, before mounting a rally that almost pulled out the win.

Click here to listen to assistant coach TJ Benson's postgame interview with Michael Potter.

Joshua Braun, who finished with a career-best 25 points, scored back-to-back buckets that gave GCU a 70-68 lead with 1:01 left on the clock. After the Broncs knotted the game at 70, DeWayne Russell hit a floater in the lane that put GCU back in front 72-70 with 12 seconds left. After a made free throw, the Broncs forced a turnover in the backcourt and Elijah Watson made a driving layup with 2.4 seconds left to put the Lopes behind 73-72. GCU's inbounds pass was stolen and the Broncs were able to dribble out the clock.

GCU made a season-best 11 3-pointers on 23 attempts, including four from Ryan Majerle who finished with 13. Braun made a career-best five from behind the arc.

The Broncs won the battle on the glass with a 31-27 rebound edge and hurt the Lopes with a 34-14 points in the paint advantage.

GCU shot 43.1 percent (22-for-51) for the game, compared to 55.2 percent (32-for-58) for UTPA.

The Lopes found themselves down 14-6 early, but used an 11-2 run to take their first lead of the game, 17-16, with 10:42 left. Daniel Alexander keyed the run scoring six points during the stretch. The Broncs outscored the Lopes 10-6 over the final four minutes and went into the break with a 35-29 lead on the heels of 55.2 percent shooting (16-for-29). GCU made 8-of-24 (33.3) in the half.

Grand Canyon returns home for two games beginning with a matchup against Kansas City on Thursday, Jan. 29 at GCU Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Lopes will then host Chicago State on Saturday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on the Cox7 and can be heard on radio on KXXT 1010 AM Family Values Radio (also available on the KXXT TuneIn Radio app).

UTPA 73 GCU 72