Lopes defeat Chicago State behind 12 3-pointers

Saturday, February 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

24-4, 10-2

Chicago State

4-25, 0-12

CSUM

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/20/2016 9:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

PHOENIX - The Grand Canyon men's basketball team dominated Chicago State and cruised to a 67-52 victory on senior night at GCU Arena on Saturday. The Lopes improved to 24-4 and 10-2 in WAC play.

"Good win. These games are hard because you want to get seniors in and you want the seniors to enjoy the moment," head coach Dan Majerle said. "I thought our guys played really well in the second half. I thought we fought hard. Defensively we were pretty good and we did what we had to do. We closed it out here at home with the win."

Grand Canyon converted on a season-high 12 3-point shots. Ryan Majerle knocked down five 3-pointers, tying a career high last achieved on Feb. 7, 2015 and setting his season high. Gerard Martin was a perfect 4-for-4 from distance, one make away from tying his career high.

"Ryan's been playing well, shooting the ball well," Majerle said. "He plays well when teams are playing zone against us. It's good when Ryan can step in there and make some open shots."

On senior night, the Lopes honored Ryan Majerle, Uros Ljeskovic, Grandy Glaze, Grant White and Jevon Estelle. All five seniors started for the Lopes, combining to score 36 points.

"It meant everything to me to get a win on senior night," Estelle said. "The atmosphere here, you'll never find this anywhere else. To come out on my senior night with my friends, my brothers and actually get to play in it and have a part in it. Monumental part of my life, monumental."

The Lopes jumped out to a lead early in the game, leading by nine by the end of the first half. Majerle shot 4-of-6 from 3-point range with 13 total points in the half.

GCU started the action-packed second half on fire, outscoring Chicago Stage 67-52. With 13:21 left on the clock, Martin hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put GCU in front 47-32. The Lopes went on to lead by as many as 26 points before Chicago State scored 13 of the final 15 points of the game. The defense also shined, limiting the Cougars to 34.6 percent shooting and never allowing a lead larger than three points.

Grand Canyon travels to CSU Bakersfield next week for a Saturday game vs. the Roadrunners. Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT.