Rally falls short despite Lever's 20-point half

Friday, February 26

Seattle, Wash.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

13-5,7-2WAC

Seattle U

10-8,3-3WAC

Grand Canyon

Seattle U

2/26/2021 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

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GCU started both halves slowly, nearly erased 16-point hole

By: Paul Coro

SEATTLE — Grand Canyon was trying to win a race by giving Seattle U a head start. And then once the Lopes caught up, they did it again.

GCU did not score for the first six minutes of the game Friday night, recovered to lead at halftime and then redug the hole with six scoreless minutes to start the second half. The Lopes furiously rallied from a 16-point deficit with senior Alessandro Lever's 20-point second half, but they lost down the stretch for the second consecutive game in Seattle U's 62-57 win at Redhawk Center.

GCU (13-5, 7-2 WAC) is clinging to a half-game hold on first place in the conference over Utah Valley (9-9, 7-3 WAC) despite continuing its exemplary defense. The Lopes, ranked second nationally for opponent field goal percentage, held California Baptist to 40.7% shooting in Saturday's loss and kept Seattle to 35.7% in Friday's loss.

But aside from Lever (24 points on 8-of-13 shooting) and senior center Asbjørn Midtgaard (15 points on 6-of-6 shooting), GCU went 7 for 36 from the field for 19.4% shooting on Friday night. The Lopes lost senior starting swingman Oscar Frayer to an apparent ankle injury in the first half, forcing freshman Liam Lloyd (30 minutes) and junior Rashad Smith (11 minutes) into their largest roles of the season.

GCU and Seattle U battle in the first of two matchups.

GCU and Seattle U battle in the first of two matchups.

"I'm happy with the guys who finished," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "I thought Rashad and Liam really did a good job of playing their positions, spacing the floor, moving the ball where it needed to get in those last eight minutes. I was really happy with their play."

GCU's defense kept the Lopes in the game when Seattle U led 11-4 after the first 10 minutes. It still could have been worse as the Lopes committed eight of their season-high 19 turnovers in the first 13 minutes to trail 16-8.

A pair of Lloyd 3-pointers worked GCU to the point that it held a 26-25 lead at halftime, just after WAC leading scorer Darrion Trammell hit a half-ending 3 for his first made field goal.

That Trammell 3 became the start of 13 unanswered Redhawks points as the GCU offense went dormant again to start the second half. The perimeter struggles spiraled into a 46-30 deficit with 11:58 to go.

"We know that teams are going to pack it in and make us shoot from the perimeter so we've got to step up and make shots," Drew said. "We thought we had really good shots. It's difficult when your post players have literally two guys around them the whole game. Credit them, they still found a way to get almost 40 points between them. The problem was our 3 for 27 from our four perimeter guys."

Lever scored 20 points in the game's final 12:28 to rally GCU by nailing three 3-pointers and adding two 3-point plays. Five times, GCU had possessions within three points and did not score each time.

"He took the whole team on his back and made some great shots and made some really big plays," Drew said of Lever.

The Lopes defense made Seattle (10-8, 3-3 WAC) settle for missed 3s on four consecutive possessions in the final three minutes but they could not catch up. With GCU forced to foul, the Redhawks converted free throws to win their first game since a Feb. 12-13 home split with New Mexico State.

GCU and Seattle U battle in the first of two matchups.

"I thought our defense was solid," Drew said. "You hold a good offensive team to under 36% from the field and you outrebound them by eight. Those are games you're supposed to win."

WAC Freshman of the Year candidate Kobe Williamson scored a season-high 14 points while Trammell led Seattle U with 17 points and seven assists. Trammell, who was averaging 24.9 points in conference play, was 3 for 12 from the field but he was 10 for 11 on free throws.

"It's a good win," Seattle U head coach Jim Hayford said. "Hat's off to GCU. Super well-coached team. Lever was special. After his freshman year, he was picked WAC Preseason Player of the Year. He willed them back into the game. Just a lot of respect for him. And, obviously, Midtgaard is the real deal. That's a big guy.

"We knew they wanted to go to him and we knew were going to keep going to him. We knew we could force turnovers by good team defense. And really the story of the game is we had nine turnovers, they had 19."