In a contest that featured 18 ties and 15 lead changes, Grand Canyon took advantage of a late free throw opportunity and then made a defensive stop on the Seattle University offense to hold on for a 74-73 victory Thursday night in Western Athletic Conference men’s collegiate basketball action at KeyArena at Seattle Center.
With Seattle U ahead 58-54 with seven minutes left in regulation, Killian Larson made two free throws and a layup to pull Grand Canyon into a 58-58 tie. After Jack Crook (Manchester, England) responded with his own layup, the Antelopes scored six straight points on a traditional three-point play by Daniel Alexander and a three-pointer from Akachi Okugo to pull ahead, 64-60.
Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) hit two free throws, and D’Vonne Pickett Jr. (Seattle, Wash.) converted on a layup to tie the game at 64-64. With the score tied at 66-66, Alexander hit a three-pointer, and Sam Daly followed with a layup to give Grand Canyon a 71-66 advantage with 1:47 to go in the second half.
The Redhawks came right back, as Pickett hit a jumper and Clarence Trent (Tacoma, Wash.) followed with a steal and a dunk to close the Redhawk deficit to one. Larson hit a layup, but Umipig came back with a traditional three-point play to tie the game at 73-73 with 27 seconds remaining in regulation.
On Grand Canyon’s next possession, Jerome Garrison was fouled and made the first free throw, but missed the second, giving the Redhawks a final chance. Pickett drove for a layup attempt, but Garrison blocked his shot, Daly grabbed the rebound, and the Antelopes were able to run out the clock for the victory.
“This was a tough loss, but I can’t fault our guys’ effort. They competed and did some good things,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “The game went back and forth, they made some plays, and then we made some plays. I have to give them (Grand Canyon) credit for finishing the way they did.”
Umipig notched his fourth game scoring at least 30 points this season, finishing at that number on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including 6-of-11 from behind the three-point line, and 8-of-9 from the free throw line. He also dished out five assists, as did Pickett to go along with eight points. Crook also scored eight points and pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, while Trent contributed seven points, six rebounds, three steals, and a blocked shot.
Grand Canyon (13-11, 8-3 WAC) was led by Larson, who notched a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while Garrison finished with 18 points, Alexander scored 11 points, and Daly added 10 points, four rebounds, five assists, and two steals to the winning effort. As a team, the Antelopes shot 54.9 percent from the field (28-of-51), including 5-of-12 from behind the three-point line, and 65.0 percent from the free throw line (13-of-20).
Seattle U hit 14 of 24 field goal attempts and 12 of 14 free throw attempts in the second half to raise its shooting rates to 46.3 percent from the field (25-of-54), including 7-of-18 from behind the three-point line, and 69.6 percent from the free throw line (16-of-23). The Antelopes won the rebounding battle, 33-27, and committed just three turnovers in the second half after turning it over 12 times before halftime.
Umipig hit three three-pointers in the first seven-and-a-half minutes of the game, but Grand Canyon went on a 10-2 scoring run to pull out to a 21-15 lead with eight minutes to go in the first half. The Redhawks responded with 10 unanswered points, six of them from Umipig, to take a 25-21 advantage, but the Antelopes put together another 10-2 run, with Garrison scoring nine points for a four-point lead before another Umipig three-pointer late in the half cut the Grand Canyon lead to one at 32-31 at halftime.
Seattle University (12-13, 4-8 WAC) will face Chicago State for the first time this season next Thursday, Feb. 27, at KeyArena starting at 7 p.m. Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the game from courtside on 770 AM KTTH, beginning with the pregame show shortly before tipoff.