Lopes earn 4th NCAA tournament trip in 5 years under Drew
Grand Canyon could not just hit repeat to get to the three-peat.
The Lopes evolved and grew through new experiences since last March to feel an unbridled joy this March, when they defended their honor for a WAC Tournament three-peat with Saturday night's 89-82 championship game win over top-seeded Utah Valley at a passionately purple Orleans Arena.
GCU (26-7) punched its ticket to the Big Dance for the fourth time in five years under head coach Bryce Drew by being the only team to beat Utah Valley – twice – in the Wolverines' last 22 games. The Lopes' NCAA tournament first-round matchup will be revealed on the CBS selection show at 3 p.m. Sunday.
The Lopes led the Wolverines (25-8) for the final 27 minutes of the game by putting six scorers in double figures and holding WAC Player of the Year Dominick Nelson (6'5''-G) to 2-of-9 shooting with three turnovers.
GCU played one of its most efficient offensive games of the season, shooting 52% from the field and committing only eight turnovers for the second consecutive tournament game.
Lopes senior power forward JaKobe Coles (6'8''-F) won the tournament's Most Outstanding Player with 19.7 points per game, but foul trouble limited him to 19 minutes in the championship game. He still scored 13 points, but the Lopes came at the Wolverines in waves of scorers with 18 points from senior guard Rayshon Harrison (6'4''-G) as he moved to 9-0 in WAC Tournaments.
GCU junior center Duke Brennan (6'10''-F) added a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds) while graduate swingman Tyon Grant-Foster (6'7''-G), graduate forward Lok Wur (6'9''-F) and sophomore guard Makaih Williams (6'2''-G-2004) each scored 12.
The Lopes were leading 33-32 when they shut out the Wolverines for 3 1/2 minutes and took the lead to 40-33 at halftime. GCU's relentless attack did not back off in the second half, when the tempo picked up with five consecutive scoring possessions that had the Lopes lead at 52-41 after the half's first five minutes.
Utah Valley cut the GCU lead to a single possession once at 61-58 with 8:54 to go, when Drew called timeout and the Lopes stretched the lead back to 10 in two minutes with Harrison's aggressive drives, a Williams 3 and a Wur jumper.
The Lopes knocked down 27 of 33 free throws to secure the win despite Utah Valley guard Tanner Toolson (6'5''-G) knocking down six 3-pointers for his career-high 28 points.

WAC Final:
UT Valley - GCU 82-89

WAC Semifinals:
UT Valley - Seattle 68-55
GCU - Cal Baptist 75-66

WAC Quarterfinals:
UT Valley - Utah Tech 74-57
GCU - UT Arlington 98-75
Cal Baptist - Tarleton St 55-51
Abilene Chr - Seattle 63-69

WAC Opening Round:
S.Utah - Utah Tech 65-72

Courtesy of wacsports.com