Lopes extend winning streak to 10 games

Thursday, January 21

Chicago, Ill.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

17-2, 4-0WAC

Chicago State

4-18, 0-5WAC

Grand Canyon

Chicago State

Photo by: Darryl Webb

1/21/2016 11:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Charles Hampton

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team extended their winning streak to 10 games as they took home a 90-65 win over Chicago State on Thursday night at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago, Ill., improving to 17-2 (4-0 WAC) on the season.

Grandy Glaze recorded his fifth double-double of the season as he tied for the team lead with 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the win. Joshua Braun continued his torrid scoring in WAC play, scoring 19 points and grabbing 9 rebounds in 27 minutes of action. Braun is now averaging 24.0 points per game in WAC play.

"Overall, great win," head coach Dan Majerle said after the game. "You're always nervous about games like this. They beat us twice last year—their team is going to keep coming and keep coming and they throw a lot of different defenses on you, so I'm really happy."

The Lopes took a 10-point lead in the early stages of the game sparked by two early 3-pointers from Braun. They took a 12-point advantage into the half. Glaze, the conference leader in field goal percentage, was 5-of-6 from the field in the first half and finished 7-of-8 for the game. It was his ninth game this season in which he has shot over 75 percent from the field.

What was a contested game in the first half quickly turned in the Lopes' favor to start the second half. GCU opened up a 29-point lead by starting the second half on a 21-4 run to cruise home with the victory.

"We wanted to come out and make a statement in those first four minutes and that first group really did that," Majerle said. "They came out and made baskets and really defended, which is a big thing for us, rebounding-wise, we were pretty good."

Grand Canyon controlled the boards throughout the game, finishing with a 48-30 rebounding advantage including an 18-19 edge on offensive rebounds. The Lopes are now 13-1 on the season when they win the rebounding battle. The Lopes' 48 rebounds were the most this season, passing their previous high of 47 against Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 23.

The Lopes had four players score in double figures with DeWayne Russell (11) and Dominic Magee (10) joining Glaze and Braun. All 11 players who entered the game for the Lopes scored points as the Lopes surpassed the 90-point mark for the second consecutive game.

GCU continues their conference road trip as they move on to Kansas City where they will take on the University of Missouri-Kansas City on Saturday, Jan. 23. Tip-off from Municipal Auditorium is at 6:05 p.m. MT.

Lopes fans will be able to watch from home on the American Sports Network or Cox 7 Arizona. Michael Potter and Dan Nichols will also be broadcasting live on the GCU Radio Network, 1010 KXXT AM.