Who's gonna stop 'em?
Following Grand Canyon University Men's Club Basketball White's perfect 4-0 record in their inaugural weekend of Region VI play of the National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association Tournament, the Lopes picked up right where they left off this past weekend, going 5-0 during NIRSA play, remaining the top-ranked team in the West Region standings.
NIRSA Game 5: GCU White 50, USC 38
The first game of the weekend for GCU Men's Club Basketball White was against undefeated USC. The Lopes quickly stacked an 11-0 lead against then-undefeated University of Southern California to start the game, then dominated the Trojans on the boards and on defense to keep distance.
"We struggled shooting the ball, but our defense and size inside definitely rattled USC for most of the game," noted GCU Head Coach Lamont Lane.
The Lopes' Elyon Zevenbergen gathered 11 rebounds and put in 12 points to lead the team to victory.
NIRSA Game 6: GCU White 63, Cal Poly SLO 49
GCU White jumped out to a quick lead in the first half against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and never really looked back. GCU guard Mason Petersen again had a hot shooting performance, going 6-for-6 from three-point range. Shiloh Zevenbergen also added 12 points for GCU.
NIRSA Game 7: GCU White 75, UCLA 60
With Lane describing UCLA as "probably the most battle-tested club team we'll see this trip", the Lopes started hot, led by the sharpshooting of Shiloh Zevenbergen. At the halftime break the Lopes were up by 18 points, but UCLA started to storm back in the second half, cutting the lead to three and forcing Lane to reinsert his starters into the game. GCU center Elyon Zevenbergen put down a monster dunk to cap off a 12-0 GCU run, ending the suspense about the outcome.
NIRSA Game 8: GCU White 2, Gustavo College Team B 0 (FFT)
GCU White won their fourth game of the weekend by way of forfeit.
"Gustavo College oddly refused to play our team, citing that our team was too good," said Lane.
NIRSA Game 9: GCU White 73, Northern Arizona 60
Once again, the Lopes jumped out to an early lead, but NAU never relented. GCU guard Mason Petersen helped close the door on an NAU second-half comeback with three straight threes late in the game.
GCU looks to finish the NIRSA season strong, taking on Cal Poly Pomona, University of California Riverside, Gustavo College Team A, NAU, and San Jose State University this weekend. All games will be played at the UC Riverside campus.
