M Basketball
10-30-09
Guard Derrick Webb scored 23 points and forward Michael Duty and guard Morris Anderson had 19 points apiece to lead the Western Washington University men's basketball team to a 94-70 win over Grand Canyon University in first-day action at the Disney Tip-Off Classic tonight in Anaheim, Calif.
It was the first game of the season for both teams. It also was the Antelopes' first game under new head coach Russ Pennell, who was the interim head coach at the University of Arizona last season and led the Wildcats to a 21-14 record and a berth in the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.
GCU's roster includes seven Division I transfers, three freshmen who turned down Division I scholarship offers and four other talented freshmen, but with a completely new team -- not one player or coach returned from last season -- and a very early start to the season, Pennell and his staff had just two weeks from when practice started on Oct. 15 to get their team ready to play the defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions. And their relative inexperience -- Webb, Duty and Anderson are among seven seniors on Western Washington's roster -- showed, although not for most of the first half.
Neither team led by more than three for the first 17 minutes.
The 'Lopes led 34-32 with 4:05 left in the opening period, but Anderson and Webb each hit 3-pointers to start a 12-3 run for the Vikings. Webb was fouled on a 3-point attempt with 0:06 left and made all three free throws to give Western Washington a 44-37 halftime lead.
The Vikings outscored the 'Lopes 18-6 over the first 7:29 of the second half and held a 19-point advantage, 62-43, with 12:31 remaining. GCU narrowed the gap to eight points, 66-58, with 8:02 to go, but Western Washington outscored the 'Lopes, 28-12, the rest of the way.
The Vikings went to the free-throw line 39 times, 16 more than the 'Lopes. They also outrebounded GCU, 38-30, and had 13 points off turnovers to the 'Lopes 4.
Five GCU players scored in double figures, led by senior forward Marco Ramos (Salinas, CA/Webert State University) with 12. Guard T.J. Benson (Tempe, AZ/Weber State University), the only other senior on the 'Lopes' roster, had 11 points, followed by junior forwards Gaby Ngoundjo (pictured, Cameroon/University of North Carolina-Charlotte) and Rony Tchatchoua (Cameroon/University of New Hampshire) and sophomore guard Nick Witherill (Phoenix, AZ/Washington State University) with 10 points each.
The game is the first of three meetings between the Vikings and GCU. The 'Lopes will compete in the WWU Chuck Randall Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 28, and the Vikings will play at GCU on Dec. 5.
GCU will face San Francisco State, a 78-53 winner over Kentucky Wesleyan in the other first-day contest Friday, tomorrow at 2:30 p.m.
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