Grand Canyon overcomes 22 turnovers to hold off Tarleton State in WAC basketball

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Grand Canyon’s men’s basketball team committed 22 turnovers for the second straight game.

This time, the Lopes got clutch play from Tyon Grant-Foster to overcome the miscues and beat Tarleton State 64-60 in a crucial road win to keep them in the hunt for the regular season WAC title.

GCU (18-6, 8-2) is a game behind first-place Utah Valley (17-7, 9-1) in the WAC standings. The Lopes finish this season-long, three-game road stretch Saturday at UT Arlington (12-13, 5-6), which the Lopes beat for the WAC Tournament championship last season.

After Tarleton State (10-15, 5-6) closed to within a point at 61-60, Grant-Foster found JaKobe Coles for a basket with 40 seconds left. After a missed 3-point try by Tarleton State’s Dantwan Grimes, Grant-Foster was fouled with five seconds left. He made 1 of 2 free throws to seal it.

Grant-Foster, starting for the first time in three weeks, led the Lopes (18-6, 8-2) with 19 points, making 6 of 10 field goals and 7 of 8 free throws. He also had eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, two blocks and seven turnovers.

Center Duke Brennan bounced back from an off night in an 85-71 loss Saturday at California Baptist, where 22 turnovers did the Lopes in.

He had his seventh double-double of the season and sixth in 10 WAC games with 12 points and 14 rebounds. He had 10 points and eight rebounds in the first half when the Lopes led by as many as 11 points.

“I feel like we really got a test tonight,” Grant-Foster said in the postgame GCU radio interview. “Going on the road is always going to be hard, regardless of where you’re going to be playing at.”

This was Tarleton State’s first WAC home loss. The Texans hadn’t lost at home since a 91-62 setback on Nov. 9 to Sam Houston.

“We just came together at the end,” Grant-Foster said. “We did what we needed to do.”

Tarleton State constantly pressured the ball with double teams and traps against the Lopes. Point guard Makaih Williams, who made only 1 of 6 field goals but cashed in with 9 of 11 free throws, had…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/grand-canyon-overcomes-22-turnovers-160630218.html

Author : AZCentral | The Arizona Republic

Publish date : 2025-02-14 16:06:00

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