PHOENIX, Ariz. – Abilene Christian competed well but couldn't stop Grand Canyon's stranglehold on the Western Athletic Conference on Thursday, falling 74-64.
The Lopes were able to convert seven offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points.
Ali Abdou Dibba led the Wildcats with 20 points with
Leonardo Bettiol adding 15 and
Airion Simmons contributing 11. Simmons had seven rebounds and Dibba added six for ACU's 30.
Simmons and
Kavion McClain had three assists each and McClain shared the team steals lead at two with Dibba.
ACU led by as many as nine points in the first half, 23-14, on a dunk by Dibba with 8:38 remaining. GCU outscored the Cats 19-9 from there and led 33-32 at the half.
The Wildcats travel to Riverside, Calif., to take on California Baptist at 7 p.m. (Central) on Saturday.
