Down by 14 at half, 47-33, the Mustangs had to do a lot of catching up Saturday afternoon in order to get a win over Grand Canyon University, but a block by DJ Nicholas (Glendale, AZ/Glendale High School) (Glendale, AZ) fueled the Mustangs to an 18-6 run midway through the second half to come away with a two-point victory in the end, 80-78.

In the first half, WNMU proved to be very successful with Nicholas in the post as he went 7-for-11 from the field, but little other scoring from the outside occurred for the Mustangs. It was the complete opposite for the Lopes. Grand Canyon launched eight from beyond the arc and hit seven of them.

It wasn't until Nicholas' block with 12:46 remaining in the game did the Mustangs' downtown game make an appearance. Sophomore Andy Sohlich (Battle Creek, MI/St. Phillip Catholic Central High School) (Battle Creek, MI) hit four straight threes along with two free throws to get WNMU within one with nine minutes remaining.

Things went back-and-forth for the next five minutes, but Sohlich nailed another three with 1:20 remaining to put the Mustangs up by three. A Devin Stewart (Tucson, AZ/Santa Rita High School) (Tucson, AZ) layup 19 seconds later then put WNMU up by five.

WNMU tacked on one more point with a Nicholas free throw at the 39-second mark, but a GCU jumper and a costly WNMU turnover led to a three and put the Lopes within one again. But in a must-foul situation by GCU, Stewart sealed the game with a WNMU free throw.

Nicholas finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds, recording his first double-double of the season. He also posted six blocks and two steals. Sohlich concluded the afternoon with 25 points. Stewart handed out eight assists and tallied 14 points.

The Mustangs struggled from the free throw line, hitting 12 of 23 charity points, but shot 60.0 percent from the floor in the second half.

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