By the Daily News

Western Kentucky’s men’s basketball team fell to Grand Canyon, 74-72, on the road Saturday night in Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix.

A total of three Hilltoppers managed double figures in the scoring column in the loss, with Don McHenry leading WKU with 23 points along with five rebounds, one assist and a steal.

The Tops won the tip and opened scoring for the Saturday night outing as Tyrone Marshall Jr. connected on a basket 12 seconds into the game. The Tops forced GCU into its first turnover and Marshall again cashed in on the other end with a lay-in, giving WKU a 6-2 lead three minutes in.

The Lopes responded on three straight possessions capped by a fast-break layup to give GCU an 8-6 lead heading into the first media timeout.

McHenry connected on his first 3-pointer of the night out of the media break to regain a lead for WKU, 9-8.

The Tops held GCU without a field goal for 3:47, leading 19-16, before the Lopes cut the lead to one with a made jumper at the 10:41 mark in the first.

Trailing 20-19, Marshall found Babacar Faye who was fouled on the way up, converting on a pair of foul shots to put WKU back in front 21-20 with 8:59 left in the first.

Enoch Kalambay connected on his first 3 and Khristian Lander found Marshall for another triple, giving WKU its largest lead of the first period, up 29-22 with 6:28 remaining until half. McHenry found Lander for his first points of the night off a fast-break layup with 4:05 until the break.

Trailing 32-31, Lander connected on a baseline 3 to put the Tops back in front with just over two minutes left in the period. Late in the shot clock, Lander drove to the basket and connected, putting the Hilltoppers back in front and holding the one-point lead going into the break, 36-35.

Lander scored the first points of the second half, pushing his point total to nine and putting the Tops ahead by three, 38-35.

Heading into the first media break, freshman Julius Thedford was fouled on a drive to the basket. Thedford hit 1-of-2 from the free-throw line after the media timeout, giving the Tops a two-point lead, 45-43, with 15:34 remaining. GCU answered with a triple to take back the lead, then followed that up with another for the Lopes’ largest lead of the half, up 49-45.

WKU responded by evening the score at 49, the eighth tie of the game, with 12:58 left in the game. The Tops regained the lead, 51-50, as McHenry found Marshall for a layup. The Lopes coughed the ball up after stepping out of bounds and a McHenry triple put WKU up four heading into the under-12 media timeout.

Jalen Jackson became the seventh Hilltopper to reach the scoring column with a made floater from the paint to give WKU a 56-52 advantage with 11 minutes to play. The Lopes used a 6-2 run to bring the game to its ninth tie, 58-all, with under nine left.

McHenry silenced the crowd with a made 3 in front of the Hilltopper bench to give the Tops a 61-58 lead with eight minutes remaining. McHenry pushed his point total over 20 with a bank-in through traffic, giving WKU a 65-58 lead with 6:45 left in regulation and forcing GCU into a timeout.

Lander passed up a 3 and was fouled driving to the basket before converting on both free throws to push the Tops’ lead out to nine with 5:53 to play. With 3:06 left in regulation, goaltending was called on an attempted layup by Marshall following a Lopes turnover, putting the Tops ahead 69-62.

Faye knocked down 1-of-2 free throws for a 70-64 lead with 2:19 to play. A 5-0 run by the Lopes forced WKU to take a timeout with 44 seconds left, now leading 72-71. GCU converted on the and one and knotted the game at 72-all.

The Lopes connected on a go-ahead jumper with 0.4 seconds left in the game, securing a 74-72 win in GCU’s favor.

Marshall added 15 points off a 50% clip from the field. He added a team-best eight rebounds along with an assist in 34 minutes of play.

With the loss, the Hilltoppers are 0-2 to start the season for the first time since 2003-04 in Darrin Horn’s first season.

WKU led for 30:16, only trailing for 6:02 in a game that saw 10 ties and 17 lead changes.

As a team, the Hilltoppers managed eight assists compared to 16 turnovers. The Hilltoppers forced GCU into 12 of their own, scoring 16 off those mistakes.

WKU returns home to host Campbellsville on Tuesday. Tipoff at E.A. Diddle Arena iis slated for 7 p.m., with ESPN+ set to stream the matchup.