McCants' half-court buzzer beater sends Aggies past GCU

Jan 10, 2019, 11:55 pm

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Johnny McCants scored 17 points and hit a 50-foot, 3-point shot at the buzzer to give New Mexico State a 77-75 win over Grand Canyon Thursday night.

The Aggies (12-4, 1-1 Western Athletic Conference) led 74-69 with 1:47 left before Damari Milstead rallied the Lopes with a jumper and a pair of layups and Grand Canyon led 75-74 with 13 seconds left.

Trey Drechsel fouled the Aggies' Terrell Brown who missed both free throws with eight seconds remaining. McCants then fouled Drechsel with 3.3 seconds left and he missed the foul shot. Grand Canyon -- who pulled all its players off the lane -- allowed McCants to grab the uncontested rebound, dribble to just outside the half-court line where he launched the shot that was all net.

Ivan Aurrecoechea led the Aggies with 20 points and 11 rebounds and Keyon Jones scored 12 points.

Carlos Johnson led Grand Canyon (9-7, 2-1) with 16 points, Oscar Frayer 15 and Milstead and Gerald Martin each scored 13.