Late game run lifts Lopes over Aggies

Saturday, February 11

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

17-9, 6-3WAC

New Mexico State

22-4, 8-2WAC

New Mexico State

Grand Canyon

2/11/2017 9:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Jake Hernandez

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon men's basketball team defeated New Mexico State 83-71 to even the season series 1-1. The Lopes (17-9, 6-3) improve to 12-3 at home this season and trail Bakersfield by two games in the Western Athletic Conference standings. DeWayne Russell dropped 31 points and added seven assists.

"Unbelievable," GCU head coach Dan Majerle commented. "We came out in the second half and there was a point they were shooting 81 percent from the floor. I mean they went on a run, they went up 10 and we had to find a way to get tougher. We did that. We started to rebound the basketball, we got stops, we were able to get out and run and get some good baskets. Guys were aggressive. Darion (Clark) played very, very well, we were waiting for that. Josh (Braun) got aggressive, DeWayne kept on battling, Gerard (Martin) made some big plays, but once we became the aggressor, with just more energy than they did, we fought our way back."

Russell, the WAC leader in points and assists, recorded his 27th-straight game scoring ind double-figures with 31 points (9-of-25), and added seven assists and four rebounds. Darion Clark had a season-high 17 points (6-of-9) with a perfect 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. The GCU forward led the Lopes with seven boards. Joshua Braun followed with 16 points (5-for-10), and added five rebounds.

In a sound-deafening GCU Arena, the Lopes' defense caused havoc to the Aggie offense to even the season series to 1-1. The Lopes held the Aggies scoreless for nearly an eight minute span late into the contest. The Lopes ended the night with 13 forced turnovers that included six steals.

The Lopes offense fired on all cylinders to start the game as they hit 6-of-10 to take an early 14-11 lead. Russell led the charge with seven points off 3-of-5 shooting from the field. The Grand Canyon defense held its own to keep the Aggies to only a 25 percent shooting and forced five Aggie turnovers in the first 10 minutes as the Lopes gained a 20-13 lead.

Back-to-back buckets from Russell gave the Lopes their largest lead at 31-22 with less than six minutes to go in the first half. The game momentum changed quickly as Aggies responded with a 14-0 run to take a 34-31 lead with 2:51 until the break. With less than two minutes in the first half, the Lopes snapped back into action to regain a 38-36 lead at the break. The action-packed first half consisted of six lead changes to compliment the sell-out GCU Arena crowd.

The Lopes would head into the locker room shooting 48 percent compared to an Aggies' 42 percent from the field. New Mexico State led 20-12 in the paint but committed 11 personal fouls in comparison to only seven Grand Canyon fouls.

The Aggies' offense started with a 5-0 run to begin the second half but a technical on New Mexico State helped surge a Lopes 6-0 run for a Grand Canyon 44-41 lead.

In a game of runs and 10 lead changes, the Aggies continued to respond offensively as they went on a 6-0 run to regain the lead at 49-46 at the 15:26 mark. New Mexico State continued the offensive attack with another 6-0 run to take a 62-52 lead over Grand Canyon. The Aggies could not miss as they hit nearly 79 percent from the field in the first 10 minutes of the second half.

It was not until a massive dunk by Braun and 3-pointer from Russell to re-energize the Lopes' offense late into the second half, did the Lopes cut the score to 62-57 at the 10:10 mark. With no field-goals by the Aggies in nearly an eight minute span, including five turnovers, the Lopes took advantage with a 19-0 run to regain the lead, 76-65 at the 1:27 mark. The Lopes would not look back and defeat the Aggies, 83-71 to even the season series 1-1.

In the second half, Braun scored 13 of his 16 points off 4-of-8 from the field. Braun and Russell accounted for 30 of GCU's 45 points in the 2nd half.

In a physical battle on the court, Keonta Vernon found himself in foul trouble early as the junior committed four with less than 10 minutes to go. The Lopes would only commit 14 fouls on the night compared to the Aggies' 17. Although Grand Canyon struggled in the paint, losing the battle 41-32 to New Mexico State, the Lopes out-rebounded the Aggies 38-35.

Three GCU players recorded double-figures, including Russell, Braun and Clark (17). The trio accounted for 64 of GCU's 83 points on the Saturday night.

The Aggies also had three in double-figure points in Ian Baker (19), Eli Chuha (17) and Jonathon Wilkins (10). Baker had a game-high eight rebounds and added six assists.

"Proud of the guys, we were down 10, but we battled back," Majerle added. "A big win obviously. If we would have lost this one, it would have been hard to fight back in the league. This gets us right back in the picture, still a long way to go, we got to go back out on the road and win some games and get some help, but this makes it feel a lot better."

Up Next, the Lopes travel to Seattle, Wash. to face Seattle U on Thursday, Feb. 16 at 8:00 p.m. MST. The game can be viewed on the WAC Digital Network.