Lopes take down Cougars to advance to Global Sports Classic championship

Monday, December 21

Las Vegas, Nev.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

10-2

vs. Houston

8-2

Grand Canyon

HOUSTON

Photo by: Darryl Webb

Lopes take down Cougars to advance to Global Sports Classic championship

12/21/2015 11:37:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Charles Hampton

LAS VEGAS -- The Grand Canyon men's basketball team kept the momentum going on the road as they battled back from a nine-point second half deficit to defeat the Houston Cougars 78-69 in the Global Sports Classic semifinals on Monday night.

DeWayne Russell scored a season-high 20 points and dished out a team-leading 6 assists to lead the way for the Lopes, who improved to 10-2, their best start since also starting 10-2 during the 2012-13 season.

"In the second half, they really came out and played the way we're accustomed to playing when we win games," head coach Dan Majerle said. "Defensively, we really shut them down and because our defense was so good, we were able to score a little more on offense. Our game starts with defense. It always does and we figured that out in the second half."

Despite getting out to a quick 7-0 lead in the first half but the Cougars offense battled back into the game shooting 50 percent from the field in the first half to take a five-point lead into halftime.

Houston built its lead up to nine after Rob Gray, Jr. hit a 3-point shot with 16:37 remaining in the second half. On the other end of the floor, Gerard Martin fed Grandy Glaze for a layup that helped spark an 11-0 run for GCU to get back into the game.

Focused on picking up the defensive pressure, the Lopes held the potent Houston offense to just 31.4 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

"The best offense, sometimes, is a great defense," Majerle added. "We played well. We did a better job on the boards. DeWayne continued to make big shot after big shot and push the ball and make some really nice passes to guys who are open. It all comes down to playing hard and playing as a team."

Both teams refused to back down in a game that saw 14 lead changes throughout the contest. With the Lopes down 57-55 with just over six minutes remaining in the game, Russell penetrated and found Martin for an open three-pointer to put GCU up a point, a lead they wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game.

Following Martin's three-pointer, the redshirt-freshman from Manly, Australia then found Joshua Braun for open three-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Lopes a seven-point lead with under five minutes to go.

The win was GCU's second big road win in a row after knocking off San Diego State at Viejas Arena on Friday night.

"We just have to keep building on the momentum," Majerle said. "If you win at San Diego State and come here and lay an egg, then people are going to look at us and say, 'well they got lucky.' You have to take all that momentum and keep winning. Now we've got to do it again tomorrow. We've put ourselves in position to have a heck of a trip here and to win a championship here in Vegas, in this tournament, would be huge for Grand Canyon."

The Lopes will now take on the Marshall Thundering Herd in the Global Sports Classic championship on Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. MT. Listen to the game live on the GCU Radio Network on KXXT 1010 AM.