GCU comes from behind to defeat Seattle U

Saturday, January 21

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

13-7, 3-1WAC

Seattle

9-10, 1-3WAC

Seattle

Grand Canyon

1/21/2017 8:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Josh Hauser

PHOENIX - Despite a cold-shooting first half, Grand Canyon came from behind thanks to eight 3-point field goals in the second half to defeat Seattle University 61-59 on Saturday night at GCU Arena. Joshua Braun and DeWayne Russell co-led the Lopes with 19 points each. GCU improved to 13-7 overall and 3-1 in WAC play.

"Those are great ones to win when nothing is going your way," head coach Dan Majerle said. "We started up 2-0 and I don't think we had the lead again until the very end. I'm really proud of the guys. Obviously we couldn't score, we couldn't shoot it, hit anything. Offensively in the second half, I thought we were really good as far as crashing the boards."

The Lopes trailed by six points as late as the 4:04 mark of the second half before ending the game on a 13-5 run to secure the victory. Braun -- who struggled to find his touch from distance throughout the contest -- caught fire late and scored 10 of GCU's final 13 points. Braun finished 11-for-14 from the free throw line.

"Josh struggled all night but hit some big shots down the stretch," Majerle said. "Kenzo Nudo comes in and plays 23 (minutes) and struggled like I knew he would but hit some shots. When you win games like that, it just shows you what character these guys have."

Both teams began the game ice cold from the floor. The first points of the game came courtesy of a steal-and-score from Keonta Vernon at the 17:24 mark of the first half. Grand Canyon was stuck at the six-point mark until under seven minutes to go in the half.

At that point, however, the Lopes broke their cold stretch and pulled within six, keyed by a 7-0 run. Amid the scoring spurt, Nudo scored his first career points on a much-needed 3-point basket. Russell heated up late in the half, accumulating 10 points on 5-of-9 shooting by the intermission.

Despite shooting 1-for-14 from long distance and 29 percent overall, the Lopes found themselves down by just six at the break.

The Lopes wasted no time reversing their first-half shooting woes, promptly tying the score at 30 by the first media timeout of the half. Russell connected on a pair of 3-point field goals and Kerwin Smith converted a bucket down low to tie the score.

Seattle U was able to withstand the Lopes charge, calmly building its lead back to seven points.

The Lopes and Redhawks combined for an impressive stretch that featured six consecutive 3-point makes in the middle stages of the second period. Because of the back-and-forth nature of the action, Grand Canyon struggled to put a dent in the Redhawks' small lead.

Seattle U built its lead to seven points before Braun shifted the momentum by knocking down three consecutive free throws after drawing contact on a 3-point attempt. It was just the beginning of a hot stretch for Braun that propelled GCU to victory.

Nudo, in his first ever collegiate action, chipped in nine points on 3-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc.

The Lopes overcame a 15-point deficit for the first time since coming from 19 points back to defeat UT Rio Grande Valley on the road on Feb. 6, 2016. The attendence of 7,320 was the fourth largest all-time in GCU Arena.

Grand Canyon will trek back out on the road for its next pair of WAC games, visiting UMKC and Chicago State. The Lopes and 'Roos match up on Thursday night with a 5 p.m. tip on the American Sports Network. Fans in Arizona can catch the game on Cox7 Arizona as well as KFYI 2 1230 AM.