• Final Statistics

PHOENIX, Ariz. – Nick Witherill scored six of his 11 points during the decisive two-minute stretch late in Grand Canyon's 67-58 men's basketball win on Friday over 22nd-ranked Seattle Pacific during the first day of the GCU Thanksgiving Classic.

The Falcons (4-1), who suffered their first setback of the season, play again Saturday at Grand Canyon Arena. They meet Academy of Art from San Francisco at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time.

“We'll find out a lot about ourselves because this is the most adversity we've faced all year,” said SPU coach Ryan Looney. “We have to bounce right back and play in 15 hours.”

SPU trailed by as many as 12 points early in the second half before closing within 48-47 on a short bank shot by Andy Poling with 5:23 left to play. The Antelopes Chris Johnson responded with two free throws.

Poling (Portland, Ore.) converted one of two free throws with 4:36 remaining, drawing SPU within 50-48. Witherill answered with two free throws at 3:35 that started a surge of 10 consecutive points for Grand Canyon (2-1).  Kyle Speed followed with a 3-pointer near the end of the shot clock to push GCU's advantage to seven.

Witherill capped the run on two free throws with 1:01 remaining to extend the margin to a commanding 60-48. After that, SPU never got closer than the final nine-point differential.

Junior Jobi Wall (Arvada, Colo.) paced the Falcons with 16 points and nine rebounds while Poling finished with 15 and eight.

Speed scored 13 points to lead GCU, which also got 12 from Justin Wesolowski and 10 from Johnson.

Both teams scored 33 points in the second half. The outcome was determined during the first half when the Antelopes capitalized on 11 of SPU's season-high 19 turnovers to lead 34-25 at the break.

“They got out in the passing lanes which made it a little bit more difficult for us to reverse the ball. But at the end of the day, when we were tough enough to withstand it a little bit and stick in our stuff we got shots,” Looney explained.

“The one place we could get the ball all night was in the post. We just sometimes didn't have enough patience to get it there.”

Poling opened the game with a layup on the first possession that gave his team its lone lead of the game.

The Antelopes quickly claimed an 8-4 margin. A run of nine unanswered points put them ahead 26-17 with 4:17 left in the first half.

SPU shot 40 percent (19 of 48) and hit just 6 of 22 treys for the game.

“I don't know that the game was all that much different than the last four games we've played now,” Looney said. “The only difference was we didn't shoot it that well.”

One way this game differed from its predecessors was that sophomore SPU starter David Downs did not make a shot from the field. Downs missed on all six attempts, one week after combining for 44 points in two home wins that gave him the Most Valuable Player award at the Sodexo Challenge.

The sophomore point guard, who entered the game with a team-leading 19.5-point average, scored all four of his points from the free throw line.  He sat for a stretch of over seven minutes midway through the second half.

Senior Jeff Dorman (Vancouver, Wash./Prairie HS) played well on the perimeter for SPU, equaling or surpassing his season-high marks with seven points, four assists and three rebounds.

 
NCAA MEN'S BASKETBALL
GCU Thanksgiving Classic
Friday, November 25, 2011
Grand Canyon Arena/Phoenix, Ariz.
 
at Grand Canyon 67, (#22) Seattle Pacific 58
 
SEATTLE PACIFIC  (4-1)
Wall 5-12 3-3 16, Anderson 2-5 2-2 6, Poling 5-12 5-6 15, Downs 0-6 4-5 4, Stockton 0-2 0-0 0, Carel 2-2 0-0 5, Dorman 3-4 0-0 7, Moll 0-0 0-0 0 Morse 1-3 0-0 3, Hutsen 0-0 0-2 0, Niang 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 19-48 14-18 58.
 
GRAND CANYON (2-1)
Wesolowski 5-7 1-2 12, Davis 3-4 1-2 7, Pickrel 1-5 0-0 2, Speed 4-10 3-4 13, Witherill 1-5 9-9 11 Fetters 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 3-6 4-7 10, Foreman 1-4 1-3 3, Morin 0-1 0-0 0, Garrison 1-3 1-1 3, Robbins 1-3 0-0 2, Zuilhof 1-1 2-2 2. Totals 21-49 22-30 67.
 
Seattle Pacific.......   25   33  -   58
Grand Canyon..........   34   33  -   67
 
3-point goals—SPU 6-22 (Wall 3-8, Carel 1-1, Dorman 1-2, Morse 1-3, Stockton 0-2, Downs 0-3, Anderson 0-3), GCU 3-10 (Speed 2-3, Wesolowski 1-2, Davis 0-0, Pickrel 0-1, Witherill 0-1, Foreman 0-1, Morin 0-1). Fouled out—SPU-None, GCU-Garrison. Rebounds—SPU 33 (Wall 9), GCU 32 (Wesolowski 9). Assists—SPU 12 (Wall 5), GCU 16 (Foreman 3). Total fouls—SPU 22, GCU 21. Technical fouls—SPU-None, GCU-None. A-2,175.
 
 
Next game
GCU Thanksgiving Classic
Seattle Pacific vs. Academy of Art, 1:30 p.m. PST
Saturday, Nov. 26, Phoenix, Ariz.