Finale win ends tourney on upside

Sunday, November 25

Fullerton, Calif.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-3

La Salle

0-7

La Salle

Grand Canyon

11/25/2018 9:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score PHOTO GALLERY

Early 17-0 run, Lever's double-double down La Salle

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

FULLERTON, Calif. – Grand Canyon head coach Dan Majerle sat at Titan Gym's press row Sunday night for his postgame radio interview, staring at Seton Hall and Miami players warming up for the Wooden Legacy championship game with mixed emotions.

Majerle was pleased that the Lopes finished its tournament appearance with an 82-70 victory against La Salle.

But like his players, Majerle was sore that GCU was not vying for the tourney championship against Miami after letting tournament champion Seton Hall slip away in the final seconds Thursday.

Instead, the Lopes atoned for losses to Seton Hall and Utah by doing what was done for them. GCU threatened by rallying in Thursday's and Friday's losses but enjoyed being the frontrunner Sunday with a 17-0 run that shut out La Salle for nearly nine minutes of the first half.

GCU kept a double-digit lead for the game's final nine minutes, using a 43-12 bench scoring advantage to wear down the Explorers' frenetic traps.

Lopes sophomore center Alessandro Lever posted his third career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, completing a 17.7 tournament scoring average that earned a spot on the all-tournament second team. There was more scoring support for Lever this time with reserve guards Damari Milstead (17 points) and Carlos Johnson (16 points, seven rebounds) being part of the team's season-high 54.2 percent shooting.

The Lopes reduced their 3-point attempts and made 19 of their 26 field goals in the paint.

"We've got to start playing well and get better every game," Majerle said. "I think we should be playing in this (championship) game. We should've beaten Seton Hall. I hear 'We should have.' I get it. I keep saying that. I'm sick of myself saying that but that's what we've got to learn from. We've got to be able to capitalize and start winning those games and move on.

"This is a good start. We've got a really hard stretch. We've just got to stay together and try to win some games."

The Lopes play Boise State at home Saturday before facing Nevada in downtown Phoenix and Texas and Northern Iowa on the road.

There are no sure wins in the coming stretch so the Lopes needed to take care of winless La Salle (0-7) to restore confidence. The game opened sluggishly on both sides with La Salle's pressure affecting GCU into five turnovers in the first seven minutes.

The Explorers led 9-8 before the Lopes went to a two-point guard look with Milstead and senior Trey Drechsel. That backcourt, along with senior forward Gerard Martin's infusion of defensive energy, flipped the game. La Salle could not get its full-court pressure set because it was not scoring to force GCU to take the ball out of bounds.

Johnson was more intent on getting to the rim rather than settling for 3-pointers and scored on drives and a dribble pull-up during the 17-0 run, which put the Lopes ahead 25-9 with 4:30 until halftime.

"The guys who came off the bench came with more intensity and a little more defensive effort and it just all came together," Johnson said. "It's just a different look for me. I told Coach that I felt like it was better for me to come off the bench. I can provide a little bit more scoring and defense for the guys."

Between La Salle's switch to zone defense and a GCU run of fouls, La Salle worked the margin to 11 at halftime (31-20) and emerged more energetic in the second half to pull within seven points on four occasions.

Eventually, it was the Lopes' bench defense that helped keep La Salle away with plays like senior forward Matt Jackson taking a charge and stripping the ball from a La Salle guard. GCU outscored La Salle by 10 points in Jackson's 10 minutes.

The Lopes still finished with a season-high 18 turnovers but Milstead also drew fouls regularly for a 10-of-12 free throw game.

"We had to stay composed and get the ball to the middle," Milstead said. "We have to play under control. Coach preaches being patient and poised. We kind of lost our poise but this is a good test for us because certain teams in the league are going to play us like that."

Despite GCU's size advantage, La Salle grabbed more offensive rebounds (16) than any Lopes opponent this season to get 18 second-chance points.

"I felt we did a good job executing our offensive game plan, which was to strategically blitz Lever and keep their guards off-balance with our ball-screen coverage," La Salle head coach Ashley Howard said. "We had a stretch there offensively where we had a lid on the basket that enabled GCU to create some separation."

Lever only took seven shots but made six of them and scored four more points at the free throw line while making only one turnover.

GCU was hammered by scoring guards in three consecutive games. La Salle was led by guards Isiah Deas (22 points) and Pookie Powell (15 points) but they inefficiently made 11 of 39 shots combined.

"This is a tough team to play against," Majerle said. "They trap and they do a lot of unorthodox things. It's never going to look pretty but it's a good win for our guys. We battled through some things and hopefully we're able to learn some things through it. We'll watch the film because we'll see some of this in our league."

Johnson added, "We still have got a lot of work to do. We lost two games that we should have won. We're going to go home and get after it. I know Coach is going to be on us to be a tougher team. We've just got to get in the lab and work."

The Lopes' faithful hung around for GCU's third Wooden Legacy game in four nights, causing havoc in the baseline bleachers and surrounding La Salle with even more non-student purple in the sideline stands.

"It feels like we always play a home game so it's a great atmosphere," Lever said. "It's exciting to play with a crowd like that. We love it."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.