Antelope men improve to 19-2 with surprise victory

Grand Canyon’s men’s basketball team had its second-worst shooting game in a Division I win in its history on Thursday. On Saturday, it shot even worse. And won again.

This time the Antelopes went on a 17-2 run in the final 4 minutes to win at UT Arlington 67-61.

GCU, which improved to 19-2 overall and 9-1 in the WAC, shot just 29.6%, worse that what it shot (30.6%) in a 5351 win Thursday at Stephen F. Austin.

But to find the record for worst shooting game in a D-I win in GCU history, you have to go back to March 4, 2017, when it shot 28.8% in a win at CSU Bakersfield.

On Saturday, the Lopes trailed by 14 points with 12 minutes to go, scrambled back to get within a point, then fell behind 59-50 with 4 minutes to play.

“We were not playing great, we looked a little tired out there, emotionally and physically,” coach Bryce Drew said on the post-game radio interview. “We called that time out. A couple of times. We said, ‘Hey, let’s get this lead down.’ We got it down.

“We take the lead, then we get down by more the next time. What a great four or five minutes that we had. A 17-2 run. It speaks to the heart and determination and will of these guys.”

Tyon Grant-Foster finished with 18 points, after struggling through another off shooting game. He also had seven rebounds and made 7 of 10 free throws.

GCU made 31 of 36 free throws, with Gabe McGlothan cashing in on 9 of 10 from the line. He had 14 points and nine rebounds.

Guard Collin More made all six of his free throws and had eight points. Ray Harrison had 16 points, going 7-for-7 from the line.

GCU went from a zone defense to man-to-man, flipping the game, with UTA (9-11, 4-5) making shots in the zone.

“We talked about it in the huddle,” Drew said. “They knew we had to get stops to win the game, and they wanted to play man . ... They were really active. I thought Gabe did a great job at the five in that stretch. Our wings were really active with their hands. They got some deflections, shot-clock violations. Then slowly we got our momentum going our way.”

GCU had 19 turnovers, seven of those in the final five minutes of the first half that put the Lopes in a 35-30 hole after leading by 10 with more than eight minutes to play.

UTA turned the ball over 25 times and GCU cashed in with 27 points off of turnovers.

“There are things we have to get better at,” Drew said. “These guys are really aggressive, they want to drive it and be confrontational.”

Sometimes that leads to turnovers and missed shots. But it also leads to feasting on the free-throw line.