Grand Canyon men's basketball grinds out tough win over Louisiana Tech

Grand Canyon completed the non-conference portion of its basketball schedule with a clutch 73-70 win over Louisiana Tech before a sellout crowd Saturday night at Global Credit Arena.

Despite Louisiana Tech shooting 56%, the Antelopes got stops in the final two minutes to overcome the 9-5 Bulldogs, a team with a 73 in the NET rankings coming into the game.

Ray Harrison had 22 points to lead the Lopes, and Tyon Grant-Foster shook off a tough shooting night with a steal in the final minute with GCU holding onto a one-point lead. That led to two free throws with 12 seconds left by Collin Moore for a 73-70 lead.

Tahlik Chavez, who made 4 of 7 3-pointers and had 16 points, missed a 3 as time expired.

GCU made 14 of 16 free throws, including 6 of 6 from Grant-Foster, who had 13 points on 3 of 12 shooting.

GCU is 3-1 in Quad 1 games and 1-0 in Quad 2 games to help with their resume as it heads into WAC play next Thursday and Saturday with road games at Southern Utah and Utah Tech.

Getting through a grind

The Lopes had to toughen up in the final three minutes to overcome a five-point deficit against the hot-shooting Bulldogs, who have lost all five of their games by single digits. This was GCU's ninth straight win, matching the longest in coach Bryce Drew's GCU tenure.

Louisiana Tech was ranked among the top 35 teams in the nation in scoring defense. GCU had a top-35 scoring offense coming into the game.

Grant-Foster, the team's top scorer the first half of the season, made only 1 of 4 3-pointers. But his only 3 was huge during a run that helped the Lopes take the lead late.

"We are thankful," Drew said. "Those last three minutes, guys really locked in. Thought the five-point swing was huge. Tyon hit a 3. Ray hit a lay-up. That helped get us the lead. What a grind. We knew it was going to be a really tough game. We knew that their defense was really good. They rebounded the ball well. They have two really elite players."

Harrison, who made four 3-pointers, added five assists and Grant-Foster had four assists. Forward Gabe McGlothan made 3 of 5 from beyond the arc and had 11 points.

Daniel Batcho led the way for the Bulldogs with 16 points and six rebounds. Isaiah Crawford finished with 13 points and two steals.

Louisiana Tech had one more rebound than the Lopes (28-27), who were outrebounded for the first time this season.

"We just got tougher on the ball," Drew said. "Guys played with a little more urgency on the ball, a little more active with their hands. We started to fight for some rebounds. First half, we were outrebounded by five.

"Second half, we outrebounded them by four. Those are really big marks on how aggressive you are and how you’re playing. They pretty much dominated the paint 42-16. Thankfully our 3-point shooting — we haven’t shot it well in some games, but thankfully tonight we’re 11 for 20, really shot the ball well."

Jovan Blacksher Jr., who didn't play in the second half, made both of his 3-point shots and finished with six points in nine minutes in his fourth game from a torn ACL that happened on Jan. 5 of last year.

Needing Harrison to score

Harrison's patience on offense has been key for GCU's best start since 1995. He made 9 of 17 shots and committed only two turnovers in 37 minutes. He didn't get to the free throws line but the Lopes made 14 of 16 free throws, while the Bulldogs were 8 of 15 from the line.

"If we don’t shoot the ball well from the free-throw line, we don’t win this game," Drew said. "That was a huge part, making our free throws. We need to continue to get Ray, Gabe, Tyon, Collin, continue to get them attacking the rim. I think it took them a while to get used to Batcho.

"Batcho’s really long and he had quite a few blocks and alters. Second half they did a really good job of getting into his body and that was really key."

With other struggling to make shots or find open looks, Harrison, the Preseason WAC Player of the Year, knocked down big baskets throughout, including the go-ahead layup in the final minute.

"When they’ve doubled him, he’s really moving the ball," Drew said. "Tonight, they did a lot of drop coverage so it gave him a little daylight to get his eyes on the rim and he’s so good in that mid-range. We saw a lot of that last year. We love when he comes out and makes consecutive 3s back to back, it really opens up his driving game. Really impressive offensive game from him tonight."

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Ray Harrison scores 22, GCU men's basketball beats Louisiana Tech