Braun scores 30, leads Grand Canyon over Utah Valley 86-79
OREM, Utah (AP) Joshua Braun scored 30 points and Grand Canyon beat Utah Valley 86-79 on Saturday to snap a two-game skid.
Braun was 8 of 12 from the floor and made 12 of 14 free throws. Keonta Vernon added 15 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds for Grand Canyon (25-6, 11-3 Western Athletic Conference). DeWayne Russell had 17 points and five assists.
Marcel Davis scored 22 points to lead Utah Valley (12-17, 7-7), which shot just 3 of 16 from beyond the arc in the second half and finished 8 of 30 from long range overall.
Grand Canyon had a 10-point lead with seven minutes remaining. The Wolverines pulled to 76-74 on a pair of free throws from Cory Cardwell with 3:09 left but couldn't get closer.
The Antelopes are ineligible for the conference tournament but will host a first round game in the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.
Utah Valley opens the WAC tournament on Thursday as the fourth-seed and faces No. 5 seed Missouri-Kansas City.