Late rally pulls out road win

Saturday, January 12

Edinburg, Texas

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

10-7, 3-1WAC

UT Rio Grande Valley

9-10, 1-2WAC

Grand Canyon

UT Rio Grande Valley

1/12/2019 10:38:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score

Milstead plays clutch again, scores career-high 25

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

EDINBURG, Texas — Grand Canyon's season did not get easier or more forgiving because losing on a half-court shot was two nights behind the Lopes.

On Saturday night, GCU was on the road and the ropes again. This time, the team's resiliency and sophomore point guard Damari Milstead's clutch play counted for a win. With Milstead scoring nine of the last 13 Lopes points for a second consecutive game, GCU ended a 69-65 win at Texas-Rio Grande Valley with a 10-0 run to soothe the devastation of losing Thursday at New Mexico State on a 50-foot shot.

Milstead scored a career-high 25 points, tied a career high with seven rebounds and added five assists with only two turnovers while only taking one rest for 77 seconds of the first half. Playing without injured top defenders Matt Jackson and Gerard Martin, the Lopes (10-7, 3-1 WAC) held the Vaqueros (9-10, 1-2) to 40.4 percent shooting from the field and no made field goals for the final 4:59 of the game.

"They knew that this was a game that we couldn't lose if we had the dreams that we had," GCU head coach Dan Majerle said. "We had a great team meeting last night after a long day of travel. We sat down and really had a heart-to-heart and talked about some things. These guys have been resilient all year long and they listen to what I say and I think they take it in. They showed it here tonight. We knew it was going to be a tough game and it wasn't looking good there for a while but our guys dug deep and just found a way to win. It just shows the character of our guys and how hard they play."

The Lopes boasted four double-digit scorers (Milstead's 25, Michael Finke's 13, Oscar Frayer's 11 and Carlos Johnson's 11) for the third consecutive game. It was needed with the season's leading scorer, sophomore center Alessandro Lever, limited to four points and 22 minutes against UTRGV's double teams and pressing style that sped up the tempo.

GCU made a season-high 19 turnovers and trailed 64-56 when the last one occurred. But like his late-game scoring and amazing two-steal, two-layup sequence to take a lead with 13 seconds remaining at NMSU, Milstead handled another pressure situation with cool, clutch play Saturday nightat UTRGV Fieldhouse.

Milstead executed a three-point play on a runner and hit a 3-point shot, part of GCU's 12-for-25 shooting on 3s, to tie the game at 65-65 with 1:55 remaining. He also made the game-cinching free throw with 11.9 seconds to go.

"I love the big moment," Milstead said. "Since I was younger, I feel like when the ball is in my hands at the end, then we're in good position. It's just hard work."

GCU's effort showed in 13 offensive rebounds, which led to a 15-2 advantage in second-chance points. Milstead, a 6-foot-2 guard, was the team's leading rebounder but the best offensive rebound of the game was by Frayer, who leaped for a miss' carom and made a two-handed touch pass to Milstead for the game-tying 3-pointer.

The Lopes entered the game only shooting 30.6 percent from the 3-point range this season but enjoyed their best long-range game for makes (12) and percentage (48.0) of the season. Milstead made 5 of 7. Frayer sank 3 of 7. Finke hit 2 of 4.

The most unlikely and clutchest 3 came from Johnson, who was only 6 for 36 on 3s this season when the ball came to him in the right corner with the shot clock winding down Saturday night. Johnson eyed the clock at the opposite end of the court before firing and sinking the go-ahead shot for a 68-65 lead with 1:02 remaining.

"Carlos is one of those guys who doesn't shy away from the moment," Majerle said. "He doesn't always do the right thing. He's still turning the ball over too much but he's learning. But he has a lot of onions, as Bill Raftery would say, and is not afraid of the big moment."

UTRGV's style mucked up the start of the game, when scoring was at a premium with GCU ahead 13-11 after 11 minutes of play. Fastbreak opportunities helped the Vaqueros take the lead but nine Lopes points, including six by Finke, in the half's final 1:03 gave GCU its largest lead of the game (36-28) at halftime.

The Lopes' defense went opposite of its first-half success to start the second half, fouling more often and allowing layups and dunks in half-court sets. UTRGV made 11 of 18 second-half shots before missing its final seven.

"They really got us scrambling and in scramble mode," Milstead said. "With three minutes to go, we were down by eight, so we just wanted to get to the basket and get quick shots. But we really won the game on defense. We got stops in the last three minutes. It showed that we're pretty tough."

Milstead came off the bench for the first eight games this season but now the Lopes could not go without him. He has scored double digits in three consecutive games and has posted 20 assists to 10 turnovers over the past four games.

"We had a meeting last night and I told him, 'You're a mentally tough kid. The only problem you have is you can't overcome being tired. You're so mentally tough that you should be able to do that,' " Majerle said. "He played 39 minutes and had big, big production for us. He just keeps getting better and that's great. He deserves it. He works hard and he's a great kid. He's about the team. He listens.

"I just couldn't be more proud of our guys. That's a game that could've went the other way and we just found a way to battle and a way to get it done."

GCU moved into a second-place tie in the WAC behind Kansas City, which is off to a 2-0 start and visits GCU Arena on Saturday after the Lopes host Chicago State on Thursday.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.