(Phoenix, AZ) Grand Canyon does not always have the right start but is learning how to close.
The Lopes won a tight game for the second time in six days, holding on Thursday night for a 74-71 win against UT San Antonio at GCU Arena.
GCU (7-1) overcame getting beat on the boards and an off-target night at the free throw line with a career-high scoring game from junior guard Jovan Blacksher Jr., who the Lopes could not afford to leave the floor.
Blacksher played all but 54 seconds on Thursday night, finishing with 25 points, seven assists, three steals and only two turnover. The Phoenix Shadow Mountain High School graduate matched his career high for made 3-pointers with four and now has made only six turnovers in 180 minutes over the past five games. He has sank a 3 in 10 consecutive games and has a 12-game streak of double-digit scoring games, dating back to last season.
GCU trailed 55-51 with 7:45 remaining graduate guard Holland Woods II and Blacksher went back to back with a 3-point play and a 3-point shot to finish a 9-0 run. That gave the Lopes the lead for good at 60-51 with 6:04 remaining, but GCU went through another tense finish like Saturday’s win at Pepperdine.
The Lopes went into the bonus with more than 10 minutes remaining but only made 6 of 13 tries after that to keep UTSA in the game down the stretch. The Roadrunners gradually worked the lead down, but the Lopes did just enough to limit UTSA’s only chance of tying to a midcourt shot that missed at the buzzer.
GCU kept UTSA to 36.2% shooting but allowed 21 offensive rebounds, giving the Roadrunners a 51-32 rebounding advantage after the Lopes entered the game with a plus-15 rebound margin that ranked fifth nationally.
Woods again nearly played the entire game with Blacksher. He sat only 1:27 and scored all 13 of his points in the second half after having 20 of his 24 points in the second half Monday night at Loyola Marymount.
The Lopes would have liked their fans to tune in late Thursday night. GCU’s first 11 minutes were not a carryover of how it finished Monday’s win at LMU, but the Lopes eventually got there.
GCU only made 3 of its first 16 shots with UTSA being the more aggressive team early and bothering the Lopes defensively with double teams. Fortunately for GCU, its defense helps overcome those sort of stretch. The Lopes held the Roadrunners to five points over 10 minutes with a more active defense led by junior power forward Gabe McGlothan on the interior and junior guard Jovan Blacksher Jr. on the perimeter.
Buying time helped the Lopes find its offense. Much like the weekend road wins, it took a burst of energy from senior reserve forward Taeshon Cherry to ignite the team. After GCU scored six points in the game’s first 11 minutes, Cherry tapped back a miss while being for a three-point play that sent the Lopes into a 28-point surge over the half’s final nine minutes.
McGlothan scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half, when the Lopes needed to dig out of an 18-6 hole. Cherry’s three-point play sparked a GCU stretch with 11 points in fewer than two minutes to pull within one on a McGlothan 3. A minute later, McGlothan nailed another 3 that gave the Lopes a lead that they kept for the next 14 minutes of play.
Press Release courtesy of Grand Canyon Athletics – Paul Coro
