Seattle University was unable to sustain the momentum it had gained from its five-game winning streak as well as a comeback effort early in the second half, as Grand Canyon pulled out a 71-60 victory over the Redhawks Friday night in a Western Athletic Conference men’s collegiate basketball game at KeyArena.
Manroop Clair (Vancouver, B.C.) was able to keep Seattle U within striking distance in the first half as he hit four three-pointers before halftime on his way to a 20-point performance. Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.) scored 12 points, and Aaron Menzies (Manchester, England) led the Redhawks with nine rebounds as Seattle U won the rebounding battle, 35-31.
“I thought we were tough at times, but it was spotty, which is why we did not shoot at a higher percentage tonight,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “They (Grand Canyon) basically had their way with us, which is a credit to them, especially coming into our home. We just have to get better, especially as we now go on the road.”
Grand Canyon (22-4, 8-2 WAC) jumped out to a 9-2 lead as Seattle U made just one of its first 10 field goal attempts, but a four-point play from Clair and a jumper by Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) allowed the Redhawks to tie the game at 9-9. After a basket by Jack Crook (Manchester, England) pulled the Redhawks to within one at 17-16, Ryan Majerle hit two three-pointers, followed by baskets by De’Andre Davis and Grandy Glaze that extended the Antelope lead back to nine at 27-18.
After DeWayne Russell hit a three-pointer with 3:10 remaining in the first half, Seattle U buckled down on both ends of the floor, as Clair scored five straight points while the Redhawks held the Antelopes scoreless to close the gap to four at 32-28 at halftime. The two teams exchanged points for the first six minutes of the second half, with Majerle hitting two free throws to give Grand Canyon a 40-35 advantage.
Seattle U put together a 13-4 scoring run, punctuated by a tip-in by Menzies, to take a 48-44 lead with 8:48 remaining in the second half. The Antelopes responded with a 15-2 scoring run over the next five minutes, starting with a three-pointer by Majerle and featuring a long distance basket from Joshua Braun that gave Grand Canyon the lead for good. The Antelopes hit 8-of-11 free throw attempts over the final minute-and-a-half to hold off the Redhawks.
Majerle, the nephew of Grand Canyon head coach Dan Majerle, hit four three-pointers in the game to finish with 16 points, while Glaze notched another double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Russell added 15 points to the winning effort. As a team, Grand Canyon shot 42.9 percent (24-of-56) from the field, including 8-of-25 from behind the three-point line, and 75 percent (15-of-20) from the free throw line.
The Redhawks shot 38.3 percent (18-of-47) from the field, including 5-of-19 from behind the three-point line, and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the free throw line. Seattle U committed 16 turnovers and was only able to force Grand Canyon into eight turnovers.
Seattle University (12-12, 6-4 WAC) will play three of its final four regular season games on the road, starting with a road trip next weekend to face UT Rio Grande Valley Thursday, Feb. 18, and New Mexico State Saturday, Feb. 20. Both games will begin at 7 p.m. local time and will be broadcast on 770 AM KTTH, with Dave Grosby starting the pregame show at approximately 4:50 p.m. Pacific time Thursday and 5:50 p.m. Pacific time next Saturday.