Antelopes breeze past Gaels, send St. Mary's home from Big Dance
SPOKANE -- 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.
Saint Mary's Gaels fans traveled far and near to root for the West Coast Conference Champs. It was loud and lively at Dryden Hall for almost the entire game. Every point, rebound and steal by the Gaels had fans up on their feet. Mia Johnson, a senior made sure she was dressed for the occasion.
"I got this shirt at one of the games, and it was really big on me so I turned it into a dress and I made this hat," Johnson said.
While most settle for clapping and chanting, Mia has a special celebration move.
"I just like to fist pump in the air whenever we win and just do a little like cowgirl move," Johnson said. "It goes well with the hat."
Others like Alvaro Melendez used the traditional Saint Mary's way to lead the Gaels to a win.
"I think we got this game but too many errors," Melendez said. "We're going to beat them. We're going to win this game for sure. I feel it in my heart and I'm going to pray after halftime. I'm going to pray for five minutes to get this game," he added.
But at the end of the 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.
Andrea Nakano contributed to this report.
