Grand Canyon wins outright regular-season WAC title for 1st time
Mar 9, 2024, 10:38 PM | Updated: 11:43 pm
Head coach Bryce Drew of the Grand Canyon Antelopes gestures during the second half of the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference basketball tournament against the Southern Utah Thunderbirds at the Orleans Arena on March 11, 2023 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Antelopes defeated the Thunderbirds 84-66. (Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images)
(Photo by Louis Grasse/Getty Images)
With a 68-47 win over Cal Baptist on Saturday night, Grand Canyon University men’s basketball won its first outright regular-season WAC title.
GCU (27-4, 17-3) finished one game ahead of Tarleton State (23-8, 16-4) despite a late push from the Texans that included an upset win over GCU in late February.
On Saturday, the ‘Lopes used a 25-4 run to end the first half and take control of a game they were trailing after the first 10 minutes.
GCU then opened the second half on an 8-0 run to put down any comeback ideas from Cal Baptist. Former Arizona State big man Duke Brennan punctuated an 8-1 run shortly after with the first made 3-pointer of his career.
DUKE BRENNAN. STRETCH 5. 🎯
First-career three for the big man! pic.twitter.com/GnEp7Mi2Sy
— Grand Canyon Men’s Basketball (@GCU_MBB) March 10, 2024
Brennan finished the game with 14 points and team highs in rebounding (six) and blocks (four). Tyon Grant-Foster was the game’s high scorer with 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
By way of earning the No. 1 seed, GCU gets to skip the first two rounds of the WAC Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas and will play its first game on Friday in the semifinals.
Utah Valley plays Cal Baptist in the first round, and the winner of that matchup plays Seattle U. The winner of that second matchup will then face GCU in the semifinals on Friday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.
The championship game is next Saturday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN2 where the winner will officially punch a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
