Grand Canyon sends Saint Mary's packing in the First Round
Grand Canyon has finally got the national attention they have been longing for! On Friday night Grand Canyon defeated Saint Mary's 75-66 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. As the 12 seed in the West region Grand Canyon pulled off a heroic upset against the West Coast Conference Tournament Champions.
Tyon Grant-Foster played a team high 39 minutes, finishing the game with 22 points and 7 rebounds. His upside on both sides of the ball for the Lopes was integral in pulling off the upset against the Gaels. Lopes Guard Ray Harrison added in 17 points that was huge down the stretch making it easily accessible to create scoring opportunities.
Throughout the game the Lopes were locked in defensively and did a great job at closing out on shooters for Saint Mary's. Grand Canyon Head Coach Bryce Drew tends to keep a tight rotation, which benefited greatly tonight due to everyone having an impact on the game.
Reserve Forward for Grand Canyon, Lok Wur made his presence known on defense coming up with a team high 4 blocks. The Gaels were finding way inside the paint but GCU was there to clean up every time.
A long time coming since becoming Division 1 in 2013, GCU finally now has their first tournament victory under their resume.
Up next Grand Canyon will face a harder test against the Alabama Crimson Tide on Sunday, where they look to build off of their cinderella upset.