ABILENE – Abilene Christian continued its timely winning streak with an impressive 79-73 win over WAC-leading Grand Canyon on Saturday.
A tight game throughout, the teams were square at 69-69 with 2:30 to play before GCU took a 71-69 lead at the 1:52 mark.
Hunter Jack Madden got a steal and was fouled at the 1:27 mark and sank two free throws to lock the score again at 71-71.
Collin Moore got the ball inside for a dunk with 68 seconds left for GCU's last lead, 73-71.
Ali Abdou Dibba led the Cats with 24 points but his assist to
Kavion McClain may have been the biggest dagger.
The Cats finished on an 8-0 run, ignited by a three-pointer by
Kavion McClain with 50 seconds to go. McClain was fouled 20 seconds later and sank both free throws for a 76-73 lead.
"Ali found his rhythm and we just kept calling things to try to get him the ball," said ACU Head Coach
Brette Tanner. "That play was designed for him and GCU knew it and they collapsed. He made the extra pass. So outside of the 24 points, it's that assist at the end to KV for the three that I think is more important."
Airion Simmons got a big rebound with 16 seconds left and was fouled. He gave ACU a 77-73 lead, collected another defensive board and quickly got the ball ahead to
Nasir DeGruy, who was fouled and gave ACU its final points at the free throw line with two seconds to go.
McClain scored a dozen points to join Dibba in double figures. Simmons finished with nine points, eight rebounds and four assists.
ACU won the rebound war against a team that shines in that area.
"We had to win the rebound battle and I didn't know if we could do it against these guys," Tanner said. "We had 16 offensive rebounds, and that's against this team. That's the best part of their identity and we flipped that."
The victory vaulted the Cats into a three-way tie for sixth with four regular season games to play.
ACU visits Southern Utah on Thursday and plays its final road game of the season on Saturday.
The Cats finish the regular season at home against Seattle and Utah Valley on March 7 and 9.
