A tale as old as time. One team starts the game and another comes out of the locker room. That is very similarly to what happened on Thursday night as GCU went into the locker room down five, after being down by as much as eleven late in the first half. The middle five minutes of that game were critical for GCU in getting back into the game.
"We all know that Seattle U is a great team. They play sound fundamental basketball, and when it is working, they are hard to beat". Coach Bryce Drew said in the post game press conference that took place in Global Credit Union Arena as the clock struck midnight on the west coast.
GCU went down by as many as eleven points late in the first half before a furious comeback led the Lopes to a nine point win in front of their home crowd. So what was it that led the Lopes to a victory?
We Hoop at GCU Man:
A term coined by Tyon Grant Foster (TGF7), a forward for the Lopes, after last years win vs Saint Mary's in the March Madness Tourney has rang true for this team. There has been several times when GCU found themselves behind in a game, but they get behind their leaders and simply "Hoop".
TGF7 led all scorers on Thursday night with a 24 points to go along with 7 assists. "It all starts on the defensive end. We turned it up at the end of the first half and never turned it down". Tyon spoke to the media after his outing which led GCU to victory where he praised the defense which led to victory.
He also spoke to the length that GCU has between himself and Lok Wur which causes problems for a lot of teams. Lok Wur had four blocks and two altered shots which also helped propel GCU down the stretch.
What's next?
With the win on Thursday night, GCU has positioned themselves to go into a massive clash with WAC leading Utah Valley on Saturday night with a chance to leave tied in first place. Reminder, that GCU has been playing catchup in the WAC since they lost by nine to UVU two weeks ago in Provo Utah. Coming into Saturday night, a clash of two heavy weights awaits whoever is willing to face the challenge. Historically, GCU has been quite successful vs UVU in Phoenix. In 12 contests on their home court, GCU has come out victorious in 8 of those games.
This game is different though, Coach Drew says. The UVU team feels connected in a way that we haven't seen before. Coach Drew also mentioned in the post game press conference that he spent all week focusing on Seattle because he didn't want anyone to say this was a look ahead spot.
It is going to take a lot to get this done at home on Saturday night, but if the Lopes succumb to a 2nd loss to UVU, you can all but kiss your chances of winning the WAC goodbye. Tyon Grant Foster, Jakobe Coles, and Duke Brennan will likely be the focal points on Saturday night after their great outings vs Seattle. UVU is a different squad than Seattle though so much will be learned early on in the game. It is very unlikely that UVU goes several stretches of five plus minutes without scoring so GCU needs to avoid putting themselves in a hole. GCU's self inflicted wounds may be the end of them on Saturday night if UVU is locked in.
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