National Basketball Association
Illinois 62, Grand Canyon 58
When: 4:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 30, 2017
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials:
# D.J. Carstensen, # Lamont Simpson, # Tom Eades
Attendance:
13762
By The Sports Xchange
Leron Black scored a game-high 20 points to help Illinois to a come-from-behind 62-58 win over Grand Canyon on Saturday in Champaign, Ill.
Da'Monte Williams hit a 3-pointer -- his only points of the game -- to give the Illini (10-5) a four-point lead with 17 seconds left.
After Grand Canyon's Keonta Vernon made a layup to cut the Illini lead to two, Mark Alstork made two free throws with six seconds left to seal it for Illinois.
Black grabbed 11 rebounds, and Trent Frazier came off the bench to score 14 points for Illinois, which shot 43.9 percent from the field and had a 25-15 advantage in points off the bench.
Vernon scored 14 points, and Alessandro Lever added 13 for the Antelopes (10-5). Grand Canyon was just 3 of 20 from long range, but turned 20 Illinois turnovers into 18 points.
The Antelopes shot 35.9 percent from the field.
The Illini (10-5) has won three of its past four games after losing four times in a five-game stretch.
The Antelopes closed the first half with a 15-4 run and didn't trail again until Michael Finke's 3-pointer broke a 51-all tie with 5:39 to go in the game.
There were five lead changes in the first half, and neither team led by more than six in the game.
Grand Canyon has a week off before starting WAC play at Seattle.
Illinois plays at Minnesota on Wednesday.
Top Game Performances
| Grand Canyon |
|
Illinois |
|
Keonta Vernon 14 |
Scoring |
Leron Black 20 |
|
Joshua Braun 3 |
Assists |
Da'Monte Williams 3 |
|
Joshua Braun 5 |
Rebounds |
Leron Black 11 |
|
Keonta Vernon 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Leron Black 3 |
|
Oscar Frayer 2 |
Steals |
Trent Frazier 2 |
|
Keonta Vernon 2 |
Blocks |
Michael Finke 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Grand Canyon
|
58 |
35.9 |
3-20 |
9-14 |
13 |
29 |
4 |
8 |
14 |
| Illinois
|
62 |
43.9 |
5-19 |
7-11 |
9 |
40 |
4 |
6 |
20 |
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