Upcoming Event: Men's Basketball at Baylor on October 10, 2025 at 2 p.m. (MST)
M Basketball
2 p.m. (MST)
at Baylor
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, January 20
Seattle, Wash.
8 p.m. (MST)
Grand Canyon
17-2,7-1WAC
79
at
86
Seattle U
11-8,4-4WAC
1
2
F
Grand Canyon
44
35
79
Seattle U
42
44
86
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Winning streak ends with late fade at Seattle U
1/21/2024 12:20:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro
Lopes take 1st loss since Nov. 21 with Redhawks closing on 8-0 run
SEATTLE – Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and Martin Luther King Jr. Day all came and went for Grand Canyon without the feeling of defeat.
Saturday night's visit to Seattle U was no holiday.
GCU's 14-game winning streak, formerly the second longest in the nation, ended when the Redhawks scored the game's final eight points to snatch an 86-79 conference victory at Redhawk Center.
The Lopes took a 76-69 lead with 4:50 remaining in the game but missed their final eight shots from the field for an eerily familiar finish. Last season at Seattle U, GCU missed its final seven shots of the game and lost despite also holding a lead with less than two minutes to play.
The Lopes (17-2, 7-1 WAC) lost for the first time since Nov. 19, when South Carolina beat GCU 75-68. The Lopes only trailed for five minutes of Saturday night's game, one that was difficult to catch a rhythm with 53 fouls called.
"There are things we can control as a team, and those are things we have to get better at," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "These guys haven't lost in two months. That's an awesome accomplishment. They should be proud of what they have accomplished, but now it's a new season starting and we've got to get better."
In the conference's smallest venue, the Redhawks portion of a capacity crowd of 1,009 fans stormed the court to celebrate Seattle U's most meaningful win of the season. The Redhawks made their final four 3-point shots on a night when GCU did not shoot well from the field (39%), free throw line (68%) or 3-point arc (28%).
Seattle U had lost three in a row on the road, but senior guard Cameron Tyson (25 points) returned from a two-game injury absence to improve the Redhawks to 10-2 at home. GCU has lost five of its past six games at Seattle U.
"The guys kept believing," said Redhawks head coach Chris Victor, whose team finished on a 17-3 run, "They came back with amazing energy today, and just came out and played. You couldn't tell if we won three games in a row or lost three games in a row. Just proud of their resolve and proud of their belief in each other. We got down a couple times and fought back. Special win for us."
GCU was led by graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan's 28 points, the second-highest scoring game of his career. He also grabbed seven rebounds and made a career-high four steals to go with his 8-of-15 shooting.
Outside of McGlothan's efficiency, the remainder of the Lopes shot 20% from the field in the second half.
When McGlothan dropped a jump hook for a 76-69 lead with 4:50 to go, the Lopes were close to the finish line of a 15th consecutive win. But losing junior guard Collin Moore to his fifth foul seconds earlier proved costly. Without his defense, Seattle U went 5 for 7 down the stretch with three 3-pointers.
"That was a big momentum play," Drew said. "We were building a lead at that point, and we had a lot of momentum. That just really hurt when he came out."
Moore was GCU's only positive performer in plus-minus at plus-14 in just 19 minutes. The Lopes were outscored by 21 in the 21 minutes he did not play.
GCU was still able to reclaim a 79-78 lead with 2:22 to go on two McGlothan free throws.
After a defensive stop, Lopes senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster was driving past one Redhawk in transition when he lost control of the ball out of bounds as he launched into a finishing attempt. Seattle U turned that into a go-ahead Tyson 3-pointer with 1:49 to go, starting the Redhawks' game-ending, 8-0 run.
"That's a play he has made played all year for us," Drew said of Grant-Foster's fastbreak turnover. "If he makes that play at around the two-minute mark, man, does that shift the game."
Tyson made 5 of 8 shots from 3-point range and was able to play 35 minutes in his first action since spraining his ankle in a Jan. 11 loss.
"I just felt like this was a game where we all came together collectively and all had big moments," Tyson said. "I think we're headed in the right direction. We had just lost three in a row, and we knew we couldn't lose that fourth one."
Seattle U opened the game with a 2-0 lead, and GCU never trailed again until the Redhawks took a 54-53 edge with 13 minutes remaining in the game. The first half was marred by 29 fouls that led to 41 free throws by the teams.
The Lopes were still able to build a 23-14 lead until a pair of 3-pointers re-engaged Seattle U, which made 10 of 20 shots from 3-point range after coming into the game shooting 32% on 3s this season.
"We haven't had one game with the flow or rhythm like we had tonight," Drew said. "We saw stuff out there tonight that we haven't seen in 18 games. But playing on the road, you have to be able to be tough and you have to be able to make plays and make plays in key moments. That's something we've got to work on for those last three or four minutes on the road."
Grant-Foster scored 25 points, going 7 for 20 from the field and 9 for 12 on free throws. Like McGlothan, he added a team-high seven rebounds.
GCU senior guard Ray Harrison only played 12 first-half minutes because of foul trouble and finished with 11 points and four turnovers on 3-for-9 shooting.
The Lopes set their program Division I-era record for free throw attempts with 44, but they also missed 14 free throws in a game for the first time since February 2018.
"We just didn't make some key plays when we needed to, and we've done that for two months," Drew said. "Our free throw shooting has left us the last two games. It really hurt us. We missed 14 free throws. If we made half of those, we probably win this game."
GCU will return to Phoenix for practices before continuing its string of road conference games with a Thursday night stop at Stephen F. Austin (12-6, 5-2 WAC) and a Saturday game at UT Arlington (9-10, 4-4 WAC).
Saturday night's visit to Seattle U was no holiday.
GCU's 14-game winning streak, formerly the second longest in the nation, ended when the Redhawks scored the game's final eight points to snatch an 86-79 conference victory at Redhawk Center.
The Lopes took a 76-69 lead with 4:50 remaining in the game but missed their final eight shots from the field for an eerily familiar finish. Last season at Seattle U, GCU missed its final seven shots of the game and lost despite also holding a lead with less than two minutes to play.
The Lopes (17-2, 7-1 WAC) lost for the first time since Nov. 19, when South Carolina beat GCU 75-68. The Lopes only trailed for five minutes of Saturday night's game, one that was difficult to catch a rhythm with 53 fouls called.
"There are things we can control as a team, and those are things we have to get better at," GCU head coach Bryce Drew said. "These guys haven't lost in two months. That's an awesome accomplishment. They should be proud of what they have accomplished, but now it's a new season starting and we've got to get better."In the conference's smallest venue, the Redhawks portion of a capacity crowd of 1,009 fans stormed the court to celebrate Seattle U's most meaningful win of the season. The Redhawks made their final four 3-point shots on a night when GCU did not shoot well from the field (39%), free throw line (68%) or 3-point arc (28%).
Seattle U had lost three in a row on the road, but senior guard Cameron Tyson (25 points) returned from a two-game injury absence to improve the Redhawks to 10-2 at home. GCU has lost five of its past six games at Seattle U.
"The guys kept believing," said Redhawks head coach Chris Victor, whose team finished on a 17-3 run, "They came back with amazing energy today, and just came out and played. You couldn't tell if we won three games in a row or lost three games in a row. Just proud of their resolve and proud of their belief in each other. We got down a couple times and fought back. Special win for us."
GCU was led by graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan's 28 points, the second-highest scoring game of his career. He also grabbed seven rebounds and made a career-high four steals to go with his 8-of-15 shooting.Outside of McGlothan's efficiency, the remainder of the Lopes shot 20% from the field in the second half.
When McGlothan dropped a jump hook for a 76-69 lead with 4:50 to go, the Lopes were close to the finish line of a 15th consecutive win. But losing junior guard Collin Moore to his fifth foul seconds earlier proved costly. Without his defense, Seattle U went 5 for 7 down the stretch with three 3-pointers.
"That was a big momentum play," Drew said. "We were building a lead at that point, and we had a lot of momentum. That just really hurt when he came out."
Moore was GCU's only positive performer in plus-minus at plus-14 in just 19 minutes. The Lopes were outscored by 21 in the 21 minutes he did not play.
GCU was still able to reclaim a 79-78 lead with 2:22 to go on two McGlothan free throws.
After a defensive stop, Lopes senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster was driving past one Redhawk in transition when he lost control of the ball out of bounds as he launched into a finishing attempt. Seattle U turned that into a go-ahead Tyson 3-pointer with 1:49 to go, starting the Redhawks' game-ending, 8-0 run."That's a play he has made played all year for us," Drew said of Grant-Foster's fastbreak turnover. "If he makes that play at around the two-minute mark, man, does that shift the game."
Tyson made 5 of 8 shots from 3-point range and was able to play 35 minutes in his first action since spraining his ankle in a Jan. 11 loss.
"I just felt like this was a game where we all came together collectively and all had big moments," Tyson said. "I think we're headed in the right direction. We had just lost three in a row, and we knew we couldn't lose that fourth one."
Seattle U opened the game with a 2-0 lead, and GCU never trailed again until the Redhawks took a 54-53 edge with 13 minutes remaining in the game. The first half was marred by 29 fouls that led to 41 free throws by the teams.
The Lopes were still able to build a 23-14 lead until a pair of 3-pointers re-engaged Seattle U, which made 10 of 20 shots from 3-point range after coming into the game shooting 32% on 3s this season.
"We haven't had one game with the flow or rhythm like we had tonight," Drew said. "We saw stuff out there tonight that we haven't seen in 18 games. But playing on the road, you have to be able to be tough and you have to be able to make plays and make plays in key moments. That's something we've got to work on for those last three or four minutes on the road."Grant-Foster scored 25 points, going 7 for 20 from the field and 9 for 12 on free throws. Like McGlothan, he added a team-high seven rebounds.
GCU senior guard Ray Harrison only played 12 first-half minutes because of foul trouble and finished with 11 points and four turnovers on 3-for-9 shooting.
The Lopes set their program Division I-era record for free throw attempts with 44, but they also missed 14 free throws in a game for the first time since February 2018.
"We just didn't make some key plays when we needed to, and we've done that for two months," Drew said. "Our free throw shooting has left us the last two games. It really hurt us. We missed 14 free throws. If we made half of those, we probably win this game."
GCU will return to Phoenix for practices before continuing its string of road conference games with a Thursday night stop at Stephen F. Austin (12-6, 5-2 WAC) and a Saturday game at UT Arlington (9-10, 4-4 WAC).
Team Stats
GCU
SU
FG%
.389
.510
3FG%
.280
.500
FT%
.682
.706
RB
32
33
TO
14
17
STL
10
1
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
28
FGM
8
3FGM
4
FTM
8
Pts
25
FGM
7
3FGM
2
FTM
9
Pts
11
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
5
Pts
6
FGM
1
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's BasketballG
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