Men's Hoops Falls Short Against Chicago State

Saturday, January 31

GCU Arena

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-11, 3-3

Chicago State

5-18, 1-5

Chicago State

Grand Canyon

DeWayne Russell

Photo by: Darryl Webb

1/31/2015 8:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GCU hits the road for pair of WAC contests next week

The Grand Canyon University men's basketball team (12-11, 3-3 WAC) fell 56-55 to Chicago State (5-18, 1-5 WAC) tonight in a Western Athletic Conference meeting at GCU Arena. It was GCU's ninth game decided by five or fewer points this season, including their second one-point loss in conference play.

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

The Antelopes led by as many as 14 points in the second half before the Cougars made a run over the final few minutes to take a one-point advantage with seven seconds to play. DeWayne Russell's jumper with time winding down was blocked by a CSU defender to put an end to the back-and-forth contest.

Russell led the Lopes with 23 points on 8-for-16 shooting, while De'Andre Davis added 10 points off the bench. GCU shot 39.2 percent (20-for-51) compared to 43.8 percent (21-for-48) for the Cougars.

The first half was played closely until the Lopes opened a 12-point lead, 30-18, with just over five minutes on the clock following a 15-3 run. CSU cut that lead in half over the next three minutes before GCU carried a 33-27 advantage into halftime.

Russell led the Lopes at the break with 14 points, while Davis added eight points. As a team, GCU shot 46.2 percent (12-for-26) over the first 20 minutes, while the Cougars went 11-for-25 (44.0 percent) from the floor.

GCU outscored the Cougars 12-4 to open the second half as they built a 45-31 advantage over the first eight minutes. CSU responded with a 13-5 run of their own to pull within six points at 50-44 with under seven minutes remaining in the game.

The Cougars pulled to within one point, 55-54, at the 1:03 mark before draining a jumper with 7.3 seconds on the clock to move ahead 56-55.

CSU had a foul to spare and used it to bring the clock down to four seconds. Russell drove to the basket with time running down, but his jumper was blocked as the buzzer rang.

GCU was hampered by an 8-for-25 mark from the floor (32.0 percent) in the second half as they were outscored 29-22 by the Cougars.

The Lopes will now hit the road for a pair of WAC contests, beginning with an 8 p.m. matchup against Seattle U on Thursday night. Fans can listen to the action live by tuning in to KXXT 1010 AM Family Values Radio.

CSU 56, GCU 55