Lever levels Seattle with 30

Thursday, February 22

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

18-10, 7-5

Seattle U

19-10, 8-4

Seattle University

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Michael Rincon

2/22/2018 10:51:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score

Lopes end skid with strong defense in 76-64 home win

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

The Seattle Redhawks start a 7-foot-3 center. Their defense ranks in the national top 30.

And they were undone by a Grand Canyon freshman center who arrived in Phoenix last summer with next to no English and did not start for GCU until this season's eighth game.

Alessandro Lever became GCU's offensive focal point during the conference season and had delivered five 20-point performances before recording his first 30-point game Thursday in the Lopes' 76-64 victory against Seattle on Thursday night at GCU Arena.

Lever's 6-foot-10 post presence and soft shooting touch made GCU's calling card, defense, stand up. The Lopes (18-10, 7-5) held the Redhawks (19-10, 8-4) to 40.4 percent shooting with 16 turnovers to tighten the Western Athletic Conference standings gap between the teams. If GCU ends regular-season play with wins against Utah Valley and Cal State Bakersfield at home and Seattle loses either to Utah Valley or Bakersfield on the road, the Lopes could earn the WAC Tournament's No. 3 seed because it now holds the head-to-head tiebreaker with Seattle.

GCU only trailed for 27 seconds with Phoenix Suns players Devin Booker and Jared Dudley watching courtside amid a crowd of 6,925 fans. Even when the Lopes did fall behind momentarily in the second half, the Lopes went to Lever on five consecutive possessions to start a decisive 13-5 run.

Lever scored with variety from the field – a post-up, a fadeaway, a hook, a follow, a 3-point play and two 3-pointers. He also converted 14 of 15 free throws as he fouled out Seattle 7-3 junior center Aaron Menzies.

"He just keeps getting better," Majerle said of Lever, who is averaging 18.7 points in the past 10 games. "It tells you what hard work does every night.

"Alé is kind of our go-to guy now. Not only can he stretch the floor and make some 3s but he's really good in the post. At his size, not only can he makes baskets but he can get fouled and put them in foul trouble and get to the line."

In addition to setting the program's Division I-era freshman scoring record again, Lever also tied his career high with 10 rebounds but hurt Seattle most by earning as many free throws (15) as the Redhawks' entire team did.

"He (Menzies) is 285 pounds so he's much slower than me so I just open and fake," Lever said. "If the traffic is not coming, shoot or attack. He's slower than me so keep attacking."

The Lopes won at Seattle with dominant closing defense on Jan. 6 and opened Thursday with much of the same. The Redhawks had a six-minute scoreless stretch in the first half and shot 34.5 percent for a 35-26 halftime deficit. They missed their first nine 3-pointers against GCU, which was ranked No. 1 in the nation for 3-point defense entering Thursday.

But Seattle found its range and rallied until a lineup of Lever, Joshua Braun, Damari Milstead, Matt Jackson and Gerard Martin closed out the win. Braun scored 10 points in the game and Milstead, another freshman, scored seven key points late in the game.

Seattle guard Jordan Hill, who scored 26 in the teams' first meeting, was limited to 12 on Thursday but he cut the GCU lead to 65-59 with 2:21 to go. Martin then hit a 3-pointer and followed with a fastbreak layup off a Braun steal.

Redhawks swingman Matej Kavas, the nation's No. 8 3-point shooter, made three of 10 3s and finished the season series at 20 percent against the Lopes.

The win moved GCU to 14-2 at home this season and was much-needed after a flat Saturday loss at Bakersfield. Majerle would not tolerate the performance or the season's first losing streak, putting the team through rigorous running Monday and Tuesday to send a message demanding more effort.

"I'm proud of everybody," Majerle said. "It's been a tough week of practice and our guys bounced back. That's a good start. Now, we've got to keep it rolling. We can't revert back. I'm very proud of our guys. That's a really good Seattle team. It's a big win."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.