Completed Event: Men's Basketball at UNLV on February 7, 2026 , Loss , 78, to, 80
M Basketball
at UNLV
L 78-80
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Rapid Recap: GCU 81, Ottawa 53
12/11/2021 6:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Lopes light up 'Merry Litmas' game theme with blowout home win
In Grand Canyon's final home game before Christmas, the Spirit of Ottawa was an appropriate GCU visitor but the Lopes broke their spirit with an 81-53 victory Saturday night.
GCU moved to 9-2 this season and 7-1 at home with a blowout win that send it into a week of preparation for the Jerry Colangelo Classic, next Saturday's marquee matchup with undefeated San Francisco at the Phoenix Suns' Footprint Center.
The Lopes mostly just needed to get back into the win column with restored offensive confidence and got it with a high-scoring game that included 41% 3-point shooting and 88% free throw shooting.
GCU continued to show its defensive strength by only allowing 31% shooting from Ottawa, a 7-5 NAIA team with a victory against a Division I opponent (Denver). The Lopes' backcourt of junior Jovan Blacksher Jr. and graduate Holland Woods II also remained the scoring stalwarts of the team, each scoring 10 points in the first half but both having three steals for the game too. The team outscored Ottawa by 33 points in Blacksher's 25 minutes on the court Saturday night.
The Lopes had been getting off to slow offensive starts recently and fixed that Saturday night by scoring the game's first 11 points and then coming back with a 16-0 run later in the first half to bury Ottawa. That allowed GCU head coach Bryce Drew to experiment more with rotations for the rest of the game, giving freshman guard Jalen Blackmon his biggest chance with 16 minutes and time at the point.
GCU junior power forward Gabe McGlothan, getting back to full health after illness, and junior reserve center Aidan Igiehon each added nine points and seven rebounds. Graduate forward Sean Miller-Moore matched his career high of eight rebounds, all in the first half, and scored 10 points in 19 minutes with 6-for-6 free-throw shooting after being a 50% career free throw shooter.
Twelve Lopes scored, including the play of the night when sophomore Liam Lloyd made a late-game steal and raced off to a fastbreak, laying it off the glass for trailing sophomore guard Jayden Stone to slam it back over an Ottawa defender.
Return to gculopes.com for Paul Coro's full game recap with comments from head coach Bryce Drew and players.
GCU moved to 9-2 this season and 7-1 at home with a blowout win that send it into a week of preparation for the Jerry Colangelo Classic, next Saturday's marquee matchup with undefeated San Francisco at the Phoenix Suns' Footprint Center.
The Lopes mostly just needed to get back into the win column with restored offensive confidence and got it with a high-scoring game that included 41% 3-point shooting and 88% free throw shooting.
GCU continued to show its defensive strength by only allowing 31% shooting from Ottawa, a 7-5 NAIA team with a victory against a Division I opponent (Denver). The Lopes' backcourt of junior Jovan Blacksher Jr. and graduate Holland Woods II also remained the scoring stalwarts of the team, each scoring 10 points in the first half but both having three steals for the game too. The team outscored Ottawa by 33 points in Blacksher's 25 minutes on the court Saturday night.
The Lopes had been getting off to slow offensive starts recently and fixed that Saturday night by scoring the game's first 11 points and then coming back with a 16-0 run later in the first half to bury Ottawa. That allowed GCU head coach Bryce Drew to experiment more with rotations for the rest of the game, giving freshman guard Jalen Blackmon his biggest chance with 16 minutes and time at the point.
GCU junior power forward Gabe McGlothan, getting back to full health after illness, and junior reserve center Aidan Igiehon each added nine points and seven rebounds. Graduate forward Sean Miller-Moore matched his career high of eight rebounds, all in the first half, and scored 10 points in 19 minutes with 6-for-6 free-throw shooting after being a 50% career free throw shooter.
Twelve Lopes scored, including the play of the night when sophomore Liam Lloyd made a late-game steal and raced off to a fastbreak, laying it off the glass for trailing sophomore guard Jayden Stone to slam it back over an Ottawa defender.
Return to gculopes.com for Paul Coro's full game recap with comments from head coach Bryce Drew and players.
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