Braun scores 26 to lead Lopes to fourth straight victory

Thursday, February 18

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

23-4, 9-2

Missouri-Kansas City

10-16, 3-8

UMKC

Grand Canyon

Braun scores 26 to lead Lopes to fourth straight victory

2/18/2016 10:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Jake Hernandez

PHOENIX -- The Grand Canyon men's basketball team swept the season series against Missouri-Kansas City with a 78-66 vicory on Thursday in front of 6,049 at GCU Arena. With their fourth win a row, the Lopes improved to 23-4 and 9-2 in the Western Athletic Conference standings.

"I thought it was a really good win. We came out and we played for 40 minutes," head coach Dan Majerle said after the game. "We did a tremendous job, everybody who played did really well I thought. We did a good job on the boards. We did a good job on the rebounding aspect of it and we out-shot them for most of the game. They came out and played hard."

Joshua Braun, the Lopes' leading scorer in the game, finished with 26 points and three blocks, tying his career high in blocks. Braun was also a perfect 12-for-12 from the free-throw line, helping the team finish 84.6 percent from the line. Last matchup against UMKC, Braun finished with 31 points, including a career-high six three-pointers.

"Josh has had a tremendous season," Majerle said. "The best thing when you talk about Josh is he's 12-for-12 from the line. He's such a good foul shooter that you just get him down there and he's a beast down there. He doesn't need a lot of shots to get his points. He's one of those guys you can count on."

Reigning WAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week Grandy Glaze recorded his ninth double-double on the season with 10 points and tied his career-high 15 rebounds from early this month against Benedictine.

Unlike the first matchup between the two schools last month, the Lopes dominated most of the first half. The Roos took their first lead in the game with 14:24 left in the half but the Lopes quickly rebounded from their rocky start, hitting six field goals in a row, including a pair of 3-pointers. The Lopes' largest lead in the first half was 12 when the Lopes turned up the defense to keep the Kangaroos to only 2-for-13 shooting from the field in the last 2:41 of the half. Braun led the team, scoring 12 points, and Glaze dominated the boards, grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds in the first half.

The Lopes started off hot in the second half with Braun and Gerard Martin each hitting from beyond the arc. GCU continued to capitalize against the Roos' zone defense throughout the game, taking its largest lead of 24 points during a 6-0 run with 9:42 left in the game. The Lopes never looked back for the rest of the game.

While Grand Canyon shot 43.4 percent from the field for the game as UMKC hit 42.4 percent, the Lopes dominated beyond the arc, hitting 10 of their 20 attempts and holding the Roos to just 35.7 percent. Keonta Vernon was a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, adding a perfect 2-for-2 from the free-throw line, recording 12 points in 17 minutes.

"I knew Keonta was a high-energy, high-level athlete," Majerle said. "He's really improved offensively. His shot is getting better, he's a better passer than I ever imagined, he's a tough kid. I'm very pleased with all of our guys and I think Keonta, in particular, he's really grown as a player and as a person since he's been here."

The Lopes will continue conference play at home against Chicago State on Saturday, Feb. 20 at Grand Canyon University Arena. Tipoff for the Lopes is scheduled for 7 p.m. MT as they honor their seniors in the final regular season home game.