Antelopes fall further behind in WAC race
Grand Canyon had the unveiling of the Jerry Colangelo statue Saturday. It had another sellout crowd. It had the Havocs ramped louder than ever before, all in purple, inside GCU Arena.
But none of those good feelings could end the New Mexico State curse.
Going nearly 10 minutes in the second half without a field goal, watching Terrell Brown drain 3 after 3 and not being able to block out for a critical rebound late, the Antelopes fell to the Aggies 67-64, losing another game in the race for the Western Athletic Conference regular-season title.
GCU (14-9, 7-3) went 0-2 at home this week.
Late in the game, Brown swished his fourth 3-pointer – this one from about 30 feet – in a four-minute span to put GCU in a 62-53 hole and silence the Havocs.
The Antelopes made one last push with Alessandro Lever’s 3 cutting it to 6362 with 1:12 left.
They had a chance to take the lead, but guard Trey Drechsel’s pass near the baseline was intercepted.
Eli Chuha made one of two free throws with 23 seconds left. His miss was rebounded by Trevelin Queen and GCU had to foul with 15 seconds left. This time, Chuha made both foul shots for a 66-62 lead.
Carlos Johnson cut it to 66-64 with four seconds left.
Chuha made one of two free throws, and Johnson’s half-court shot at the buzzer was short.
GCU lost at New Mexico State (20-4, 9-1) in mid-January by two points on Johnny McCants’ half-court shot at the buzzer.
GCU fell to 2-12 in its history against New Mexico State. It lost to the Aggies three times last season, the last one keeping the Antelopes from making history in the WAC tournament final, denying them their first NCAA Tournament bid.
The Antelopes started hot, taking a 12-8 lead, but the Aggies answered quickly, mopping up with second-chance points and draining 3-pointers.
A 10-0 run with 3-pointers from AJ Harris and CJ Bobbitt gave NMSU an 1812 lead.
Then, GCU answered with a couple of driving baskets by point guard Damari Milstead and a steal and dunk by Oscar Frayer that tied it.