Lopes conclude WAC road trip with win at Utah Valley

Saturday, February 18

Orem, Utah

7:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

19-9, 8-3

Utah Valley

11-15, 3-8

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

2/19/2017 12:07:00 AM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

By: Charles Hampton

It wasn't always pretty, but the Grand Canyon men's basketball team used a late run to come away with the 77-71 win over Utah Valley at the UCCU Center in Orem, Utah, on Saturday night. The win was the Lopes' fourth in a row and their third consecutive road win.

DeWayne Russell had 18 points and 7 assists to go along with 3 rebounds, 2 steals and a block. Despite an aggressive defense, Joshua Braun managed 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor.

"Just a gutsy win," head coach Dan Majerle said after the game. "To be able to come in here and withstand a team that we knew, after losing to Bakersfield, to beat us would justify their last two games. We knew it was going to be a tough game. Just a gutsy performance from everybody."

It was a physical first half, with both teams going back and forth at each other. While both teams shot over 40 percent from the field, the Lopes were able to keep it close by holding the Wolverines to 1-for-10 from behind the arc for the first half.

Russell got out to a hot start, hitting his first four shots from the field, scoring 11 points in the first 12 minutes of the contest. Utah Valley controlled the paint with their size in the first half, holding a 24-10 scoring edge in the paint and a 21-18 edge on the glass.

With the Lopes trailing by one, they were able to get a stop at the end of the half as Brandon Randolph missed a jumper with two seconds to go. Shaq Carr grabbed the long defensive rebound, took a look at the clock and heaved a 80-foot desperation shot as the buzzer sounded that hit nothing but net. The 3-pointer gave GCU a 35-33 lead at the break.

While the two squads lacked in big runs in the first 10 minutes of the second half, Utah Valley started pulling ahead as they took a seven-point lead following a free throw from Zach Nelson. The lead would be the Wolverines' largest of the game as the Lopes answered back with layups from Braun and Carr.

The game was tied at 66 with 3:30 remaining, when the Lopes used a 9-0 run, sparked by a clutch 3-pointer in the corner from Braun, to put the game out of reach with a minute to play. Utah Valley would get a 3-pointer from Kenneth Ogbe and two free throws from Randolph in the final minute, but a breakaway layup from Russell would ice the game with 17 seconds to play.

For the game, GCU barely outshot Utah Valley, hitting 44.8 percent from the field compared to 44.6 percent for the home team. The Lopes connected on 46.7 percent of their attempts from downtown, but went only 10-of-18 from the free throw line. GCU was able to flip the script on Utah Valley, outscoring them 22-10 in the pain in the second half.

Carr finished the contest with 11 points, 3 assists and a steal in 22 minutes of action while Darion Clark added 8 points and 8 rebounds in 17 minutes of play.

The Lopes will return home to Phoenix next week, looking for their 20^th win of the season. GCU is 13-3 at home on the season and will face conference foes Chicago State and UMKC, two teams that the Lopes struggled with last month on the road. Tip-off for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m. at GCU Arena.