Emotions hit as season ends

Wednesday, March 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

22-12, 9-5

Mercer

19-14, 11-7

Mercer

Grand Canyon

3/14/2018 11:10:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score

Vernon plays in brother's memory; Benson goes out well

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon's season ended Wednesday night but that feeling of finality began Saturday night.

The Lopes had a hard enough time rejuvenating themselves after a conference championship loss but then they saw their senior leader, Keonta Vernon, mourn the death of his brother Monday.

Vernon returned with a passionate effort for a team-high 20 points and another senior, point guard Casey Benson, teased triple-double territory but GCU could not muster its usual defensive level in a 78-73 College Basketball Invitational first-round loss to Mercer at GCU Arena.

The Lopes (22-12) led 61-56 with 9:06 to play but went nearly eight minutes without making a field goal and lost its lead for good with 4:32 to play. Mercer (19-14) shot 50.9 percent from the field, the highest clip any opponent has shot against GCU this season. The Lopes entered the game ranked 10th in the nation for opponent field goal percentage (39.9).

Vernon wore No. 5 instead of his usual No. 24 on Wednesday night to honor the memory of his brother Jontell Reedom, who wore the number for his high school basketball and football teams. Reedom died Monday and Vernon spent time with his family in their hometown of Tulare, Calif., before returning Wednesday to play at his family's urging.

Vernon scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, when he accounted for nine of the Lopes' first 12 points to rally GCU. Vernon was coming off all-Western Athletic Conference Tournament honors when he had consecutive 17-point, eight-rebound and 14-point, eight-rebound performances.

"My mom and my fiancée pretty much told me this was something I had to do for him," Vernon said. "I couldn't get into it. My head wasn't in the right spot. It threw me off the whole time. Even when I was going, that's all I was thinking about.

"It was for him. I know he was watching down on me and he would want me to play the way I played. That game was for him."

Benson also went out with one of his finest performances – 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists with no turnovers. Benson made six of 10 shots to finish one point off his career scoring high.

"Emotionally, I think we were still down from Saturday," Benson said. "It was a quick turnaround. It's always tough to come back and get ready. It was good to play well individually. I was happy for Keonta and everything that's happened to him the last couple days. I can't imagine how he feels.

"It'll probably hit me here in a couple days when you really realize, 'Wow, my college basketball career is over.' It was an awesome feel to go out like I did."

GCU dug a 13-6 hole by missing 12 of its first 14 shots. The Lopes shot 55.3 percent from the field for the remainder of the game despite having the late-game drought. That stretch was hurt by the Lopes scoring two points on three free throw trips, just as Mercer scored 11 unanswered points for a 72-65 lead with 2:50 to go.

Mercer made 10 of 20 3-point tries against the Lopes, which boasted the top-ranked 3-point defense in the nation. Entering the game, opponents' 27.0 3-point percentage was the second-lowest of any Division I program over the past nine seasons.

The Bears have won nine of their past 10 games and got back their early-season leading scorer, Ria'n Holland, for the first time in nearly two months. He came off the bench for 10 points Wednesday while starting guards Jordan Strawberry and Ross Cummings each scored 21 points.

"Probably one of our worst defensive performances of the year, not taking anything away them," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "They run some good stuff and we knew they did. We just weren't ready to guard, which was a disappointment. I thought we fought back in the second half, played a little better just couldn't finish it down the stretch."

GCU trailed 74-67 with 1:44 to play but a Vernon dunk and a Benson drive closed the game to 74-71 with 33.5 seconds before Mercer's Demetre Rivers sealed the win with two free throws.

"It was a good season, it really was," Majerle said. "Twenty-two wins. We got all the way to the conference finals. Disappointed about tonight. I wanted to keep playing."

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.