After two strong consecutive shooting nights for Josh Braun, his shot just wasn’t falling on Monday night and all around, the Antelopes looked flat on both ends of the floor to start.
That’s when Oscar Frayer, Roberts Blumbergs and Casey Benson took over to lead the Lopes to a 85-60 victory against a Norfolk State team that came into the game 0-3. GCU is 4-0 on the season and has the nation’s longest Division 1 winning streak at 10 games.
Casey Benson and Roberts Blumbergs get things going for the Antelopes with back-to-back triples. pic.twitter.com/kJ7O3IHb9p
— YurView Arizona (@YurView_AZ) November 21, 2017
“I think our whole team we’re so deep that everybody comes in the game and is ready to play hard,” Frayer said. “That’s what makes our team good this year is us being so deep.”
Sophomore Frayer led the way with 19 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the three-point line while freshman Blumbergs added 14 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Despite Braun having an off shooting night, going 2-for-8, the Lopes managed to shoot 64% from the beyond the arc in the second half. Playing without Josh is nothing new to them, though.
That feeling when your team ties the GCU Division I record for 3-point makes in a game at 14. #LopesRising pic.twitter.com/i0ePB8rGoe
— GCU Men’s Basketball (@GCU_MBB) November 21, 2017
“Our guys know they can play without Josh,” Dan Majerle said. “We don’t live or die with Josh.”
Majerle continued to say that Braun still draws defenders even on an off night, leaving other guys open. That guy tonight was Casey Benson who was a huge spark for the Lopes in the second half after a slow start.
“It’s just a matter of being aggressive obviously,” Benson said. “If you’re a threat scorer and the defense guards you, it just opens up the floor for everybody else.”
Benson went 4-for-4 from three-point range and the shots really started falling once the Lopes got things going on the defensive end.
“Once we started playing good defense we went to our switching defense and that allowed us to get some stops there in the first half,” Dan Majerle said. “We were able to get out and run and get kind of hot.”
Grand Canyon hosts undefeated San Diego on Saturday night, which is anticipated to be GCU’s hardest matchup yet.
Be sure to tune in on your local YurView channel and online at GCU.TV.
