Men's Basketball Defeats Portland State 82-72

Friday, November 13

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-0

Portland State

0-1

Portland State

Grand Canyon

11/13/2015 9:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Steven Gonzalez

PHOENIX – The regular season kicked off for the Grand Canyon men's basketball team at GCU Arena with a matchup against Portland State. For the first time since being a member of Division I, the Antelopes won their season opener with the 82-72 victory over the Vikings.

"It was a good win even though it was an ugly win," head coach Dan Majerle said. "We played really well in the first half but we have to play better to start the second half. It feels good to win but we got a long ways to go. I am proud of our guys stepping up to the free throw line and making them when they count."

All 10 players that saw action on the court for the Antelopes scored as the Lopes started the season 1-0. Joshua Braun led Grand Canyon with a double-double, scoring 15 points along with 10 rebounds.

After Portland State jumped out to an early 10-2 lead, the Lopes quickly closed the gap keyed by Boubacar Toure – the spark off the bench that Majerle was looking for. Toure scored two points and pulled down three rebounds in five minutes as GCU tied the game at 14-14 with 11:50 left in the 1st half.

Cameron Forte was the majority of Portland State's offense in the first half, scoring 13 points. GCU, however, did not allow any other Viking to score more than three points in the first half.

GCU took its first lead of the game off a Grandy Glaze layup at the 11:07 mark. An ensuing 13-0 run by the Lopes gave them a 25-14 lead. GCU would never give up the lead after that.

Grand Canyon did not allow the Vikings to score a point for six minutes as PSU shot 35.7 percent from the field in the first half. Nine different players scored for the Lopes in the first 20 minutes of play led by DeWayne Russell with eight points. GCU's backcourt of Russell, Braun and De'Andre Davis combined for 20 of GCU's 38 points in the first half as the Lopes went into locker room with a 38-24 lead.

"It always feels good to play in front of seven-thousand fans," Davis said with a smile on his face. "I just wanted to come into the game and make an impact in any way I could."

Portland State made an early run to start the second half making four of its first five field goal attempts. The Vikings were able to cut GCU's lead to 48-42 with 12:23 left in the game. Portland State went on to cut the Lopes' lead all the way down to three points with nine minutes to play, but after a dunk by Toure and a three-point play by Davis, GCU lead was back at seven points.

Free throws were key in GCU's victory as the Lopes went 33 for 40 on the game, shooting 82.5 percent. Grand Canyon made 33 free throws in a single game just once in 32 games last season.

"We put a lot of pressure on our players during practice shooting free throws because if they miss they have to run," Majerle said. "To make those free throws down the stretch is huge because it takes a lot of pressure off our team."

The Lopes will be back in action at GCU Arena in three days, hosting Black Hills State (0-1). Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. from Phoenix.