Grant-Foster scored all on three levels with a 3-pointer, a drive and a mid-range during that stretch, and the Lopes kept overwhelming a Lancers team that lost leading scorer Dominique Daniels Jr. A GCU 16-0 run started with a Brennan 3-point play and continued with nine consecutive points by Grant-Foster, whose tear began with two free throws for Lancers head coach Rick Croy's technical foul in a two-point game. Grant-Foster was unguardable for a stretch again. A tip-in with five seconds to go put GCU's halftime lead at 41-21 with senior guard Tyon Grant-Foster following up a 29-point game last Saturday with a 17-point first half this Saturday. And for them to come out with that energy and sustain it coming out of the locker room at halftime, it was just really fun to be on the sideline and watch it all."Ĭalifornia Baptist took a 17-16 lead with 10:40 remaining in the first half but did not score for 6 1/2 minutes and nearly went the rest of the half without a field goal. Everybody knew when they were going to play next week and who they were playing. "All the seedings were already set before tipoff. "I loved their focus and determination coming out," said Lopes head coach Bryce Drew, whose team ranks seventh nationally in winning percentage (.871). Lopes sophomore center Duke Brennan recorded a career-high four blocks, all coming in the game's first seven minutes to set GCU's defensive tone in front of an overflow crowd of 5,363 fans, 60 of which were Brennan's friends and relatives. The Lopes entered Saturday with the nation's 13th-highest blocks average (5.3 per game) and pumped that up with 10 swats, one off their season high. GCU's 180-degree turn as a shot-blocking team from years past was a huge part of that. It was the 14th-lowest clip by any home team in the nation this season. On Saturday night, the Lancers' 27.1% shooting was the worst that a home team has shot against the Lopes since CSU Bakersfield shot 24.5% in March 2017. GCU has held opponents to an average of 24.8 points per half over its past five halves of basketball. Friday semifinal at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Lopes are taking a defensive riptide into next week's WAC Tournament, where they get two rounds of byes to start the postseason in a 6 p.m. This time, it feels like, 'This is ours.' It's nice to have that mark for GCU where next year everyone knows GCU was the champion last year." It feels like a participation trophy at some points when you share it. "Last time (2021-22), it was OK that we did something, but we had to share it. "It's a great feeling to be able to continue to make history and have the first outright championship," said Lopes graduate power forward Gabe McGlothan, who has been at GCU since 2019-20. Over a 17-minute stretch that bridged halftime, GCU outscored CBU 33-4 With their defense holding CBU to 27.1% shooting, the Lopes (27-4, 17-3 WAC) matched the highest win total of their Division I era with 2015-16 and slapped an exclamation point on their second WAC regular-season title by finishing a game ahead of Tarleton State. The Lopes won their first outright WAC regular-season championship Saturday night with an emphatic 68-47 rout at California Baptist to send GCU into the WAC Tournament off three consecutive wins by more than 20 points each. GCU is not interested in sharing the WAC championship. The Lopes share credit, and they share joy. – Grand Canyon is fine with sharing the basketball.
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