SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Tyon Grant-Foster scored 22 points, and Grand Canyon joined the list of schools to win an NCAA Tournament game as the 12th-seeded Antelopes knocked off No. 5 seed Saint Mary’s 75-66 on Friday night.
Grand Canyon (30-4) became the second No. 12 seed to pull a late-night upset after James Madison took down Wisconsin. The Antelopes did it with style, slashing and shooting their way to expose the No. 2 scoring defense in the country.
Grant-Foster was the instigator with skills that will likely land him a spot at the next level. Grant-Foster scored 13 in the second half, including a 3-pointer and a thunderous lob dunk during the Antelopes’ decisive 15-1 run that gave them a 50-35 lead with under 12 minutes remaining.
Gabe McGlothan matched the physical post players for Saint Mary’s and added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Ray Harrison finished with 17 points, including a spinning basket on the block with 1:40 left that gave the Antelopes a 69-60 lead. Aidan Mahaney’s 3-point attempt was blocked at the other end – the ninth block for Grand Canyon – and the Antelopes started to enjoy what they were on the cusp of accomplishing.
The Antelopes were just the seventh team this season to reach the 70-point mark against the regular season and tournament champions of the West Coast Conference.
Grand Canyon will face No. 4 seed Alabama in the second round on Sunday.
Grand Canyon moved to Division I in 2017 with grand aspirations. It wanted to be known as a basketball school. It wanted to play in the NCAA Tournament. The Antelopes had been here twice in the past three seasons, losing to Iowa as a No. 15 seed in 2021 and last year falling to Gonzaga as a No. 14 seed.
Now they have a win.
Mitchell Saxen led Saint Mary’s (26-8) with 14 points. Mahaney added 13, but shot just 5 of 21, including 3 for 13 on 3-pointers. Saint Mary’s pulled within 57-52 on Mahaney’s 3-pointer with 6:35 left, but the Gaels couldn’t get closer.
The Antelopes played what felt like a glorified home game with the crowd growing louder with every basket during their second half run to take control. There were plenty of purple clad “Havocs” filling one section of the Spokane Arena, but Grand Canyon became the adopted home team in part because it was playing Gonzaga’s biggest rival.
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Grand Canyon will face the challenge of the top scoring team in the country. Alabama made it look easy putting up 109 points in its first-round win over Charleston and hasn’t scored less than 71 in any game this season.
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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
