Graham Ike scored 21 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead a balanced attack as No. 12 Gonzaga defeated No. 8 Alabama 95-85 in the opening round of the Players Era men’s championship Monday night in Las Vegas.
Tyon Grant-Foster also scored 21 points, Braden Huff added 18 on 9-of-12 shooting from the field, Steele Venters had 12 points on four 3-pointers and Mario Saint-Supery had 10 points on 10 of 11 free-throw shooting with six assists for the Bulldogs (6-0).
Labaron Philon Jr. led the Crimson Tide (3-2) with 29 points and seven assists. Amari Allen and Aiden Sherrell both scored 14 and Aden Holloway had 13 points.
Grant-Foster made a pair of big dunks down the stretch. He scored on an alley-oop pass from Ike with 6:39 left to tie the score at 71-all. His steal and fastbreak dunk was part of an 11-0 run that helped the Bulldogs pull away. He capped that streak with two free throws with 2:47 remaining to give Gonzaga an 86-74 advantage.
The Bulldogs had a 48-36 rebounding edge, which led to a 25-10 advantage on second-chance points. Gonzaga outscored the Crimson Tide 52-42 in the paint.
Gonzaga’s Adam Miller, who was scoreless before the intermission on 0-for-4 shooting, had seven points in the opening 4:20 of the second half, making a 3-pointer to put the Bulldogs up 60-51.
The Crimson Tide responded with a 10-0 run over the next 3:45, capped by London Jemison’s 3-pointer, to take the lead.
The Bulldogs went back out front on a 3-pointer by Venters and maintained the lead until Alabama’s Aden Holloway made a 3-pointer from the corner with 7:02 left to make it 71-69 Crimson Tide.
Gonzaga trailed for the majority of the first half but Venters’ 3-pointer with 6 seconds left gave the Bulldogs a 45-42 advantage.
Huff scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting in the half and Ike added 10 points, making his final five field-goal attempts after missing his first six.
Philon Jr. scored 13 for the Crimson Tide before the break.
Gonzaga is scheduled to play Maryland on Tuesday, followed by Alabama against UNLV.
