Grand Canyon 72, Savannah State 71
Salt Lake City, Utah-(GCU Media Relations) Killian Larson sank two free throws with 1.7 seconds left to give Grand Canyon a 72-71 victory over Savannah State today at the Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The win improves GCU to 2-3, while the Tigers fall to 2-5.
"I'm ecstatic," said head coach Dan Majerle. "To play that well in the first half and then falter like we did in the second half, it was good to see our guys not get down and fight back. I'm happy for the guys and proud of them. We needed that."
The win was the first for GCU over a Division I opponent in its first year of transition from Division II.
The game featured 14 lead changes, but was one that was seemingly in the win column for the Antelopes early. GCU controlled the action and led 34-25 at the half. A basket by Jerome Garrison and a three-pointer from Akachi Okugo gave Canyon its largest lead of the game, 39-25, just a minute into the second half.
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Idaho 87, North Texas 76
PORTLAND –(UI Media Relations) After being on the wrong end of a double-digit margin on Thursday night, the Idaho men’s basketball team got things turned around in a convincing 87-76 win over North Texas on Friday at the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in Portland, Ore.
The Vandals led by as many as 24 points in the second half and fought of a pesky North Texas team throughout the final 15 minutes in the win. Idaho senior Stephen Madison, who scored his 1,000th career-point against Portland on Thursday, paced the Vandals with 25 points on Friday, four shy of his career-best.
“For a large part of this game we played very well,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “We had a spirited effort tonight. I said to our guys, the team with the most energy tonight is going to be the team that wins.”
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Illinois 77, Chicago State 53
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -(CSU Media Relations) A late push over the game's final eight minutes helped Illinois defeat Chicago State men's basketball 77-53 at the State Farm Center on Friday (Nov. 22) evening in a non-conference contest.
Chicago State trailed Illinois by four points 55-51 with less than eight minutes remaining following a 3-pointer by senior Matt Ross (Dixon, Ill./Dixon). However the game changed over the next two and half minutes thanks to 10 consecutive points by Illinois' Jon Ekey. The senior had a pair of 3-pointers and two dunks in the run.
Chicago State started the game slow, watching Illinois jump out to a 12-2 lead. An 8-2 push by the Cougars midway through the first half helped Chicago State advance within a point at 18-17. The final two points came on a Corey Gray (Houston, Texas/Hightower) layup in transition on a nice pass from senior Quinton Pippen (Hamburg, Ark./Hamburg). It was Pippen at the 1:43 mark of the first half hitting a 3-pointer to make it a 28-26 game. Illinois earned some breathing room at halftime with five straight points to make the score at the break 33-26.
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