PARADISE, Nev. (AP) — Ray Harrison scored 18 points to lead six Grand Canyon players in double figures and the Lopes beat top-seeded Utah Valley 89-82 on Saturday night in the championship game of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
No. 2 seed GCU (26-7) clinched its third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth and its fourth in program history, all since 2021.
BACK BACK BACK pic.twitter.com/VtibkqNOgy
— Grand Canyon Men’s Basketball (@GCU_MBB) March 16, 2025
Duke Brennan finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds and JaKobe Coles, who was named the WAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player, scored 13 for the Lopes. Makaih Wiilliams, Lok Wur and Tyon Grant-Foster added 12 points apiece.
"We fought through adversity all year and it's just been an amazing time"#WAChoops Tournament Most Outstanding Player JaKobe Coles of @GCU_MBB on the Lopes win in the championship game! #OneWAC x #WAChoops x #WACvegas pic.twitter.com/EA4keophf2
— The Western Athletic Conference (@WACsports) March 16, 2025
Carter Welling made a jumper that trimmed Utah Valley’s deficit to three with nine minutes to play but got no closer. Harrison answered with two free throws and, after a steal by Collin Moore, Williams hit a step-back 3-pointer with 8:23 remaining and Coles hit two free throws to make it 74-62 about five minutes later.
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JaKobe Coles scores 24, Grand Canyon advances to WAC semis
Tanner Toolson hit 6 of 9 from 3-point range and led the Wolverines with 28 points. Welling scored 18 points and Trevan Leonhardt added 10 with six assists.
Utah Valley (25-8), which had won 10 in a row and 20 of its last 21 games, won the regular season conference title and made its first-ever appearance in championship game. The Wolverines were 0-6 in tournament’s semifinals before a 68-55 win over No. 5 seed Seattle on Friday.
Utah Valley used a 19-5 run to take 21-12 lead about nine minutes into the game but Grand Canyon scored the next nine points and then closed with 7-1 spurt to take a 40-33 lead into halftime.
The teams split the regular-season series with each home team winning.
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