Josh Braun heats up late, leads GCU past Seattle

Miss after miss after miss. Grand Canyon went into a 3-point shooting rut Saturday night with Josh Braun going stone cold.

Then, suddenly, with 2:50 left, swish.

Braun’s 3 gave GCU its first lead since early in the game. Moments later, he nailed another, and the Antelopes escaped Seattle with a 61-59 Western Athletic Conference win before 7,320 fans at GCU Arena.

When Braun hit his first 3 of the night, the Havocs went crazy with the noise turning into Louisville-deafening levels.

His next 3, with 1:45 left, was even louder. It gave the Antelopes (13-7, 3-1) a 58-54 lead.

Tough defense and rebounding in the final minute enabled them to grind out a tough win that was an uphill battle throughout.

After Jack Shaughnessy’s 3 cut it to 58-57 with 55 seconds left, Seattle (9-10, 1-3) turned it over twice, once throwing the ball right into the hands of forward Keonta Vernon.

Vernon made a free throw and Braun sealed it with two free throws with 10 seconds left.

“The first half, we shot 28 percent and had four offensive rebounds,” coach Dan Majerle said. “You shoot 28 percent, you should have a lot more than that. In the second half, we had eight offensive rebounds. We crashed the boards.

“We got the ball into the middle of their zone a little bit, found some guys. Josh hit some shots. Kenzo (Nudo) hit some shots. The rest was just crashing the boards.”

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GCU had one its worst home first-half performances in the Majerle era, making just 8 of 28 shots and only 1 of 14 3-pointers, falling into a 28-22 hole.

But it would have been much worse, if not for a 13-4 run in the final five minutes of the half. During that spurt, redshirt freshman guard Nudo made his first career college points, a 3-pointer, after missing his first four attempts.

Nudo, who hadn’t played in a game since February of his senior season at Scottsdale Chaparral High in 2015 (in a state tournament loss to Tempe Corona del Sol), didn’t expect to play at all this season, after undergoing offseason surgery to repair a torn Achilles' tendon.

GCU kept it under wraps about his return all week.

Nudo, who was brought in by Majerle to be a 3-point shooting marksman, checked in for the first time in his college career with 15:25 left in the half.

“He hadn’t practiced very long,” Majerle said. “He just got cleared. I knew he was going to struggle. I thought he did fine. He hit some big shots. He’s just going to get better. He’s going to be a big part of this program for a long time.”

GCU needed someone to shoot Seattle out of its 2-3 zone.

Seattle’s length out front and quick movement made it difficult to find easy shots.

The Antelopes didn’t get into double digits until senior point guard DeWayne Russell hit a jumper with 4:57 left in the half. By then, they were in a big hole, trying to get out, trailing by as much as  24-9.

Reserve guard Matej Kavas, coming off a career-high 24 points in Seattle’s first WAC win against Chicago State, had 11 points in the half, making five of seven shots.

The Antelopes started working the ball into the middle of the zone, getting defenders to collapse, and getting players open on the perimeter.

Nudo needed time to get acclimated to playing in an official game. But he wasn’t shy about shooting.

“I was really excited,” Nudo said. “I had to get some air balls out of the way. I started getting comfortable. My teammates told me to keep my head up.”

Nudo, who wound up playing 23 minutes, nailed successive 3s in a span of 41 seconds that cut GCU’s deficit to 48-45 with 8:04 left.

“That’s his first college game,” said Russell, who finished with 19 points, making 3 of 7 3-pointers. “For him to play as well as he did, he’s got quite a future.”

GCU finished with 9 of 31 3-pointers and won, despite shooting 35.2 percent.

Braun, who was 3 for 11 from the field, made 11 of 14 free throws, finishing with 19 points.

Gerard Martin had 10 rebounds and seven assists. And freshman Oscar Frayer had three steals off the bench.