Lawrence leads Arizona St. past Grand Canyon 67-62

Dec 10, 2021, 05:15 am

TEMPE, Ariz. -- — Kimani Lawrence had 14 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks, DJ Horne also scored 14 points and Arizona State never trailed as the Sun Devils beat Grand Canyon 67-62 on Thursday night.

Marreon Jackson made 6 of 6 from the free-throw line in the final 28 seconds and finished with 13 points for Arizona State (4-6). Jay Heath shot just 1 of 7 from the field but made 9-of-10 free throws and finished with 11 points.

The Sun Devils scored the first six points, took a 16-5 lead midway through the first half and Horne capped a 7-0 spurt with a jumper that made it 40-29 with 15:29 early in the second half.

Grand Canyon (8-2) answered with a 12-2 run — including seven points by Jovan Blacksher Jr. — to make it a one-point game when Holland Woods Jr. made a 3-pointer with 9:19 to play but Lawrence and Horne scored Arizona State's next 13 points before Heath made a layup to push the lead to 57-48 with 3 minutes left.

Woods, a senior who transferred to GCU after one season at Arizona State, finished with 20 points. He spent three seasons (2017-20) at Portland State, where he left as the Vikings' career leader in assists (521) and steals (165) and was fifth in scoring (1,387).

Blacksher played 38 minutes and scored 18 points and Gabe McGlothan had 12 points and nine rebounds for Grand Canyon.

Arizona State has won back-to-back games following a five-game skid that ended with a 51-29 home loss to Washington State on Dec. 1 in the Pac-12 Conference opener. The Sun Devils beat Oregon 69-67 in overtime last Sunday in Eugene, Arizona State's first-ever win at Matthew Knight Arena.

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