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Rapid Recap: GCU 77, UMKC 74
3/8/2018 2:56:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes advance to WAC semifinals Friday
LAS VEGAS – Grand Canyon waited so long for the Division I postseason stage that it made its debut Thursday with dramatic flair and a happy result that continues the season.
The Lopes advanced to Friday's Western Athletic Conference semifinals by rallying from a 16-point, first-half deficit to oust Missouri-Kansas City 77-74 before a purple-heavy Orleans Arena crowd.
Lopes freshman Alessandro Lever scored a team-high 29 points, giving the Italian eight 20-point games in the past 13 games. He was one point off his season high of 30 against Seattle on Feb. 22 by making 13 free throws, one off his seaon high from that Seattle game. GCU sophomore swingman Oscar Frayer scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, including the game-sealing board after a potential game-tying UMKC 3-pointer missed.
GCU (21-10) blew out UMKC (10-22) twice by 17 points in the regular season but made it more interesting in a first-round tourney meeting in Las Vegas. The Lopes missed 12 of their first 13 shots and trailed 20-4 after 6:28 of play.
Lopes freshman point guard Damari Milstead entered the game and was part of a crew that quickly tightened up the game with an attacking 14-2 run. Lever scored nine of the points during the rally with four consecutive makes around the rim against the smaller Roos, including a 3-point play on a reverse.
Over the final 13 minutes of the first half, the Lopes made 12 of 23 shots and reduced the Roos' halftime lead to 42-40 after UMKC did not make a field goal in the final 3:46 of the half.
The scoring margin never got beyond four points for the first 13 minutes of the second half and usually stayed within one possession.
The Lopes took their first lead with 15:29 to go and put UMKC in the bonus situation with 13:03 remaining in the game. But the Lopes' cold 3-point shooting (three for 21 on 3-pointers) continued and the Roos took advantage of GCU scoring one point over 3 ½ minutes and went ahead 68-63 with 6:13 to play.
But the Lopes locked down defensively to end the game, forcing the Roos to miss three of their last four shots and commit two turnovers in crunch time.
Senior point guard Casey Benson's two free throws put GCU ahead 73-72 with 1:41 to go and then he defended a Xavier Bishop driving miss. Lever followed his own miss with a score for a 75-72 lead with 1:05 to go. After the Roos cut the lead to one again, Milstead nailed two clutch free throws for the 77-74 lead with 21.1 seconds to go.
GCU advances to play the quarterfinal winner of No. 2 seed Utah Valley and No. 7 seed Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m. Phoenix time Friday at Orleans Arena.
Return to gculopes.com for Paul Coro's full game recap with comments from Dan Majerle and players.
The Lopes advanced to Friday's Western Athletic Conference semifinals by rallying from a 16-point, first-half deficit to oust Missouri-Kansas City 77-74 before a purple-heavy Orleans Arena crowd.
Lopes freshman Alessandro Lever scored a team-high 29 points, giving the Italian eight 20-point games in the past 13 games. He was one point off his season high of 30 against Seattle on Feb. 22 by making 13 free throws, one off his seaon high from that Seattle game. GCU sophomore swingman Oscar Frayer scored 13 points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, including the game-sealing board after a potential game-tying UMKC 3-pointer missed.
GCU (21-10) blew out UMKC (10-22) twice by 17 points in the regular season but made it more interesting in a first-round tourney meeting in Las Vegas. The Lopes missed 12 of their first 13 shots and trailed 20-4 after 6:28 of play.
Lopes freshman point guard Damari Milstead entered the game and was part of a crew that quickly tightened up the game with an attacking 14-2 run. Lever scored nine of the points during the rally with four consecutive makes around the rim against the smaller Roos, including a 3-point play on a reverse.
Over the final 13 minutes of the first half, the Lopes made 12 of 23 shots and reduced the Roos' halftime lead to 42-40 after UMKC did not make a field goal in the final 3:46 of the half.
The scoring margin never got beyond four points for the first 13 minutes of the second half and usually stayed within one possession.
The Lopes took their first lead with 15:29 to go and put UMKC in the bonus situation with 13:03 remaining in the game. But the Lopes' cold 3-point shooting (three for 21 on 3-pointers) continued and the Roos took advantage of GCU scoring one point over 3 ½ minutes and went ahead 68-63 with 6:13 to play.
But the Lopes locked down defensively to end the game, forcing the Roos to miss three of their last four shots and commit two turnovers in crunch time.
Senior point guard Casey Benson's two free throws put GCU ahead 73-72 with 1:41 to go and then he defended a Xavier Bishop driving miss. Lever followed his own miss with a score for a 75-72 lead with 1:05 to go. After the Roos cut the lead to one again, Milstead nailed two clutch free throws for the 77-74 lead with 21.1 seconds to go.
GCU advances to play the quarterfinal winner of No. 2 seed Utah Valley and No. 7 seed Cal State Bakersfield at 7 p.m. Phoenix time Friday at Orleans Arena.
Return to gculopes.com for Paul Coro's full game recap with comments from Dan Majerle and players.
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