GCU News Bureau
The Grand Canyon University men’s and women’s basketball teams both finished second recently in the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA) tournament at Ohio State.
Both teams lost to North Carolina A&T in the final. The men were ahead by two points at the half and lost by 13, and the women lost by about the same margin.
After going 1-1 in pool play, the GCU men got a rematch with Columbus State, which had beaten them in a close game, in the first round of single elimination. Columbus State had its choice of anyone it wanted to play in the quarterfinals, and it chose GCU.
“It wasn’t hard to get our guys motivated,” said head coach Matt Lamb, also GCU’s intramural sports manager.
GCU was missing two players, Bikonzi Moise and Christopher Beverly, in the first game because they were attending commencement, and they were back for the quarterfinal matchup two days later to help GCU pull away at the finish.
That was the first of three games on the final day, and GCU then defeated defending champion Georgia Tech in the semifinals. Even though GCU didn’t win the championship, its best player, Juwan Washington, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Teammate Richard Whitehead also made the all-tournament team.
On the women’s side, GCU’s Chiderah Uzowuru and Kelsie Sanborn both made the all-tournament team.
