NCAA TOURNAMENT • Spokane: Simply Grand — D-I newbie Grand Canyon knocks off Saint Mary’s for first NCAA tourney win

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

SPOKANE —In its third try, upstart Grand Canyon University finally carved out its March Madness moment.

Backed by boisterous support and, perhaps more importantly, an advantage in quickness and athleticism, the 12th-seeded Antelopes knocked off fifth-seeded Saint Mary’s 75-66 in the first round of the NCAA tournament Friday night before 11,616 at sold-out Spokane Arena.

“It’s cool for the world to see what GCU’s capable of,” said Lopes senior forward Gabe McLothan, who finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds. “We’re not done yet.”

Grand Canyon (30-4) will play fourth-seeded Alabama (22-11) in the second round Sunday at 4:10 p.m. at the Arena.

The Spokane Arena crowd was decidedly pro-Grand Canyon. Not only did several hundred Lopes fans make the 1,400-mile trek north from the Phoenix area, many of the supposed “neutral” fans in the Arena became Lopes fans for the the night — mostly because Grand Canyon was playing Gonzaga’s biggest rival in the West Coast Conference.

“What a fun night to be a Lope,” Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew said, thanking GCU fans, but also the local fans who also cheered wildly for his team. “Love the extra boost from you.”

Grand Canyon, which moved up to Division I in the 2013-14 season, broke the game open with a 17-1 run early in the second half, expanding a 35-34 lead to a 52-35 advantage with 11 minutes left. 

McGlothan and junior guard Ray Harrison scored six points each during that run, Senior Tyon Grant-Foster added five, as the Lopes got out and ran and threatened to break the game wide open. 

“We knew we wanted to come out aggressive in the first four minutes and hit them first,” said Harrison, whose Lopes led 28-27 at halftime.

“They did a good job pressuring the ball, and made it tough for us to get into our actions,” Saint Mary’s center Mitchell Saxen said. “And I think we lost our composure a little bit.”

It was a chore for Saint Mary’s (26-8) to score most of the night. The Gaels were most successful with high screen and rolls involving its guards and post Mitchell Saxen. But even those points were tough to come by, as Grand Canyon defenders made passing angles slim and rim runs tough. The Antelopes had nine blocked shots, four by Lok Wur, and eight steals, three by McGlothan.

“I think it was our length on recovery plays,” Drew said. “We had some spectacular plays at the rim.”

“The steals were a big number, because a lot of those steals were pick-sixes,” Saint Mary’s coach Randy Bennett said. “They are athletic around the rim — they block ‘em, then they’re off to the races.”

Saint Mary’s made a run late, getting as close as 5, finally finding space to shoot, helped by Grand Canyon becoming 3 happy.

Trailing 67-60, a 3 by Alex Ducas was halfway down and spun out, and the Gaels never threatened again.

The Lopes were able to make enough offensive plays down the stretch to stave off the Gaels, as most of the fans in the Arena roared, and the Grand Canyon players headed to the sideline opposite its bench to celebrate with its fans.

Grant-Foster, two years removed from a second operation on his heart, scored a game-high 22 points and had seven rebounds. Harrison added 17 points and six assists.

Saxen had 14 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots for Saint Mary’s, which beat Gonzaga in two of three meetings to win the WCC regular season and tournament titles.

Saint Mary’s was held to 26 of 67 (39 percent) from the field.

“We knew they were going to be physical, and we still turned the ball over,” Saint Mary’s guard Augustas Marciulionis said. 

Grand Canyon 75, Saint Mary's 66