Late takeover closes late-night Lopes win

Thursday, January 30

Phoenix, Ariz.

9 p.m.

Grand Canyon

16-5,6-1WAC

Seattle U

8-13,3-4WAC

Seattle U

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Jack Gilday

1/31/2025 1:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU restores defense to wipe away 11-point Seattle U lead

By: Paul Coro

When nearly all of the nation was done playing basketball Thursday night, Grand Canyon was just getting warmed up.

Positioning itself for a chance to catch first-place Utah Valley on Saturday, GCU shook off an 11-point, first-half deficit by holding Seattle U to 29% shooting for the final 22 minutes of Thursday night's 83-74 victory at Global Credit Union Arena.

With an ESPNU broadcast game going past 11 p.m., GCU pulled away with senior power forward JaKobe Coles fueling a 12-2 run that put the Lopes ahead 72-60 with 4:29 to go. Coles scored nine of the run's 12 points and finished with 17 points and a career-high six assists.

The Lopes (16-5, 6-1 WAC) won their fifth consecutive game to pull within one game of idle Utah Valley (15-6, 7-0 WAC), which will play at GCU in a 6 p.m. Saturday showdown to avenge the Lopes' only loss in the past 11 games.

Trailing 44-34, Coles and senior guard Collin Moore made a series of standout defensive plays for GCU to start the tunaround with a 10-0 run that bridged halftime.

"We turned it up at the end of the first half going into the second half," Lopes swingman Tyon Grant-Foster said. "That was a real game-changer for us."

GCU gave the lead back one last time when it missed four consecutive 3-pointers over five possessions, but its efficiency to score inside the arc (71% on 2-point shots) and get to the free throw line (27 points at the charity stripe) made up for 4-of-22 shooting on 3s.

Phoenix, AZ Jan. 30, 2025 : The Lopes come back for a 83-74 win over Seattle U. at Global Credit Union Arena.

Phoenix, AZ Jan. 30, 2025 : The Lopes come back for a 83-74 win over Seattle U. at Global Credit Union Arena.

"That's the advantage we have on this team," Coles said. "We've got many guys that can score the basketball. There aren't many teams that can match up with us defensively. So if we swing the ball, move the ball around and find, find the best shot or the best opportunity to score, I think that we're really good.

"We just got to keep attacking. And when we attack, guys foul. We took 38 free throws. We only made 27, which is not good, but that just shows that if we be aggressive, guys are going to have to foul us."

The Lopes led for the final 11 1/2 minutes of the game, but the game broke open after Seattle U leading scorer Matthew-Alexander Moncrieffe (20 points) picked up a technical foul (his fourth personal foul) for a rebound interaction with Lopes sophomore guard Makaih Williams.

Moncrieffe exited the game, and GCU went on the 12-2 run that included Coles drawing a charge from Moncrieffe once he returned to foul him out with 5:35 remaining in the game.

In a timeout huddle before the play, Drew talked to the team about the possibility of taking a charge after earlier charge calls had been made. With Moncrieffe's scoring aggression, the Lopes staff had talked throughout the week about sliding to get in front of the 6-foot-8 power forward's drives.

"I knew in the second half that I had to probably get up at him a little bit more and make him make some more moves," Coles said. "I pulled a few tricks out the bag.

"Once I'd seen he had a fourth foul, when I knew he was going to attack, I was waiting for him to pretty much drive into me and took the charge. I think that helped change the momentum of the game for sure."

Phoenix, AZ Jan. 30, 2025 : The Lopes come back for a 83-74 win over Seattle U. at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Phoenix, AZ Jan. 30, 2025 : The Lopes come back for a 83-74 win over Seattle U. at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski/GCU

GCU also lost its big man, junior center Duke Brennan, to a foul disqualification with 3:06 to go, but the Lopes survived with the help of a Patrick Mahomes-to-Xavier Worthy inbound pass from Coles to senior Ray Harrison for a breakaway dunk and 76-65 lead with 2:55 to go.

Brennan delivered 18 points, one off his career high, on 7-of-7 shooting that showed off his improved post finishes. The 6-foot-10 center fouled out but also grabbed a team-best eight rebounds in only 17 minutes.

Grant-Foster missed last Thursday's game and was limited to 16 minutes in Saturday's game due to illness but played 32 minutes and scored a season-high 24 points against Seattle U.

The graduate from Kansas City, Kansas, scored 16 first-half points, including 10 consecutive GCU points upon coming off the bench for the first time.

"Tyon's been working hard," Drew said. "He had a really good practice Monday. I'm happy that he was able to play the game that he did offensively. He really kept us in the game that first half, and he made some big baskets in the second half."

Coles is on his best three-game scoring stretch since the first three games of the season. He is averaging 18.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists over the past three wins. He also led a better defensive second-half effort against Moncrieffe, who scored 14 first-half points in 15 minutes.

"We wanted to be more intense on the defensive end," Drew said of the halftime flip of the defensive switch. "We wanted to get more ball pressure. Again, I thought JaKobe and Lök (Wur) did a much better job second half on Moncrieffe."

GCU matched its season high with nine blocked shots, including four by Wur against four different Redhawks in the second half. Grant-Foster also swatted two shots. Wur's four blocks matched his career high, which has reached four times with two coming in the past two weeks.

"Our length is something that really bothers teams," Grant-Foster said.

Utah Valley has been idle since winning 70-66 at Seattle U last Saturday for a 10-game winning streak, the nation's seventh-longest active streak. The Wolverines defeated the Lopes 72-64 in Orem, Utah, on Jan. 9 for GCU's only loss in the past 11 games.

"We're just playing together, playing basketball like we know we can play," Grant-Foster said. "That's a testimony to the guys that we've got on this team. We go in there and grind every day in practice. We do this for the man next to us, our teammates."