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The Grand Canyon University men's basketball team pulled out a hard-fought 66-61 win over the University of Illinois at Chicago tonight at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Ill.
The win snapped a two-game losing streak for the Lopes and improved their overall record to 3-4. It was also their first road win of the season. UIC dropped to 2-6 with the loss. GCU will now play 10 of its next 11 games at GCU Arena.
Click here to hear Dan Majerle's postgame interview with Michael Potter.
Click here for Kerwin Smith's postgame interview and here for Sam Daly's.
The game was close throughout and featured four lead changes in the second half. After seeing their seven point lead cut to four, Ryan Majerle scored on a put-back layup with 2:56 left and then took the inbounds pass with only three seconds on the shot clock, making a nifty move on the baseline to put GCU up by eight at 60-52.
From there the Lopes would sink six free throws, three by Majerle, to hold off a late Flames rally.
The Antelopes started fast, taking a 14-6 lead over the game's first 7:30. Joshua Braun, fresh of 21-point night on Saturday, scored five, while Kerwin Smith added four during the run.
Smith was a force all night, scoring 12 points with four rebounds in 24 minutes. Majerle led all scorers with 15 points and pulled down five boards.
GCU led 26-21 at the break, but found itself down 34-31 just five minutes into the second half. A 16-5 run over the next five minutes put GCU up 47-39, matching their largest lead of the night.
Sam Daly started at the point tonight, playing 34 minutes with seven points and seven assists. De'Andre Davis came off the bench and also scored seven points and added four assists. As a team, the Antelopes had a season-best 18 assists.
GCU had seven players finish the night with seven points or more, including Jerome Garrison's 10 points. Garrison had a team-high seven rebounds.
Grand Canyon now returns home for a pair of games, beginning with Great Falls (Mont.) on Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. GCU will face Idaho State on Dec. 9, also at 7 p.m. Great Falls, from the NAIA, enters the game with a 7-2 record and win over Montana State – Billings in two overtimes (89-84) on Nov. 26. Both games will be broadcast on Cox7 and KXXT 1010 AM. Check www.gculopes.comfor online links.
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