Lopes face tough road test at Saint Mary's

The Grand Canyon men's basketball team looks to shake off a tough road loss on Saturday as they head to Moraga, Calif. to take on mid-major power Saint Mary's College on Tuesday night. Tip-off from McKeon Pavilion is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT.

It will be the first-ever matchup between the two schools. The Lopes enter Tuesday's game with a 24-5 overall record including a 10-3 mark in the Western Athletic Conference, with one conference game remaining. Saint Mary's is 24-4 on the season, including an impressive 17-1 record at home. The Gaels have won five games in a row, all over West Coast Conference opponents.

"They're really good," head coach Dan Majerle said following Saturday's game. "They're very good offensively, they spread the floor, they drive, they kick, and they shoot. We're going to have to do a great job to stay in the game with those guys because right now we aren't playing well. We aren't shooting well and we're not playing good defense, so we've got to bounce back and get ready."

The Lopes saw their five-game winning streak snapped on Saturday night at CSU Bakersfield where the Roadrunners got out to a first-half double-figure lead and never let up, winning 77-62. The Lopes shot just 3-of-16 from 3-point range against the Roadrunners. De'Andre Davis led the Lopes in scoring for the first time since the season opener vs. Portland State, scoring 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Grandy Glaze shot 6-of-9 from the field and scored 12 points and grabbing 12 rebounds for his team-leading 12^th double-double of the season. Joshua Braun struggled from the field, shooting just 1-of-8 from the field and 1-of-7 from 3-point range for seven points on the night.

"I thought Josh had really good looks, just missed them," Majerle said. "He's struggling a little bit now. That's no excuse; he's got to play through it. He's missed shots. Guys miss shots—that happens—we miss layups and that can't happen. But missing jump shots is a part of the game and you're going to have your ins and outs."

Grand Canyon will have to get back to playing the stout defense that Majerle expects against a talented Saint Mary's squad that defeated Bay Area rival San Francisco 84-72 on Saturday night to clinch their third WCC title in six years after being picked to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason. The Gaels have now won 20 games for the ninth straight season and currently lead the WCC in 11 statistical categories. For the season, Emmett Naar leads the Gael with 14.0 points and 6.1 assists per game. Calvin Hermanson has contributed 11.5 points per game while Dane Pineau has added 10.7 points and a team-best 8.0 rebounds per game.

Following Tuesday's game, the Lopes will conclude their regular season with a road trip to Orem, Utah to take on the Wolverines of Utah Valley. Grand Canyon is not eligible to compete in the WAC Conference Tournament this season, but recently learned will host their first round game of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

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Players Mentioned

Joshua Braun

De'Andre Davis

Grandy Glaze

Grand Canyon University Athletics