GCU Defeats Southern 70-56

Tuesday, December 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-1

Southern

5-2

Southern

Grand Canyon

12/8/2015 11:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Steven Gonzalez

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon men's basketball team (7-1) was back at home Tuesday night against Southern (5-1) which had defeated SEC member Mississippi State earlier this season. After suffering their first loss of the season, the Antelopes got back to their winning ways with a 70-56 win over the Jaguars.

For the second time this season, Grandy Glaze led the Lopes in scoring a career-high 20 points as Majerle's squad remain a perfect 7-0 at home this season.

"That's a quality team that we beat," Majerle said. "First half, we struggled a little bit. Came out in the second half and really dominated especially hitting the rebounds, moving the ball, hitting some shots."

The Lopes looked to Glaze early to start the game with 10 points in the first half without missing a single shot. DeWayne Russell did an exceptional job of orchestrating the offense with four assists in the first half along with six points and four rebounds. Southern looked to generate its offense from the three-point line and shot 43.8 percent from three in the first half to score 21 of its 31 points.

GCU dominated the boards, outrebounding the Jaguars 23-13 in the first half and in the paint the Lopes outscored Southern 20-8 but with a buzzer-beater layup Southern went into halftime with the 31-29 lead.

After scoring 29 points in the first 20 minutes of action, GCU came out of halftime with great halftime adjustments and went on the attack offensively scoring 41 points in the second half. Russell was effective on both ends of the floor, finishing with 10 points, six assists and tied for a game-high with seven rebounds. Joshua Braun was the final Lope to reach double-figures with 18 points, shooting 60 percent from three. Glaze finished the game shooting 90 percent from the floor, surpassing his previous career-high 18 points against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 23 this season.

"DeWayne Russell was great. 10 points, nine rebounds, six assists. That's what a point guard does. He was terrific," Majerle said. "Josh Braun struggled, came back in the second half and played really well. Not shooting the ball really well, got to the free throw line, 18 points. And then Grandy (Glaze), 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting. I thought everybody contributed, especially in the second half."

GCU forced Southern to shoot 37.3 percent in the second half, allowing just 25 points in the final 20 minutes.

GCU will close out the weekend out on Sunday, Dec. 13, against Omaha. Tip off is set for 6 p.m. at GCU Arena.