Three Trailblazers scored at least 21 points, but it was not enough as Utah Tech came out on the short end of a hard-fought 89-85 road loss at Grand Canyon on Wednesday night inside the GCU Arena.    

How it happened 
Despite seven early Tanner Christensen points, Utah Tech (9-10/1-5 WAC) did not have an answer for GCU guard Ray Harrison, who hit his first six shots, including five 3-pointers, as the Lopes bolted out of the gates for an early 22-11 lead six-plus minutes into the action.

The Trailblazers managed to shake off the initial GCU onslaught and started knocking down threes of their own, four to be precise, as the Blazers answered with a 19-3 run over a near 10-minute span to erase the deficit and take a 30-25 lead with 6:39 to play in the opening period.
 
Christensen got the run started with a conventional three-point play, while Frank Staine hit a pair of treys, and Isaiah Pope and Noa Gonsalves all hit from downtown to pace the Trailblazer rally. 
 
However GCU (13-6/4-2 WAC) answered with a 13-2 spurt to snatch the lead back and outscored UT 16-7 to close out the period to take a slim 41-37 advantage into the halftime break. 
 
Utah Tech stayed within striking distance throughout the second half, but could not wrestle the lead away from GCU. 

The Lopes opened up an eight-point lead at 51-43, but the Trailblazers countered with a 12-5 rally to make it 56-55 game following Staine's third 3-pointer of the night. 
 
GCU would again try to pull away, stretching its lead to as many as nine points on three different occasions in the frame and enjoyed an 85-76 cushion with 58 seconds to play.
 
Pope sparked one final Blazer charge with a 3-pointer on UT's next trip down the court, which was followed by a Gonsalves' steal and lay-in that trimmed the deficit to 85-81.
 
Then after a GCU timeout, Christensen deflected the Lopes' inbounds pass to Staine, who corralled the loose ball and scored to pull the Blazers to within a bucket at 85-83 with 25 seconds left.
 
GCU called another timeout, and the Lopes would again turn the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass. 
 
However the Trailblazers would not get a shot off on its next trip down as GCU forced a Utah Tech miscue.
 
After two GCU free throws upped the Lopes' lead back to four, Pope followed up a missed lay-in with one final basket to again pull UT to within two with 2.5 seconds left.
 
Harrison was fouled on the next GCU inbounds play, and he hit on both ends of his trip to the line to put the game on ice and send Utah Tech to its fifth-straight loss. 
 
Numbers to know
Pope scored 15 of his career-high tying 25 points in the second half to lead the Trailblazers offensively. Pope hit of 6-of-12 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers and went 11-of-14 at the foul line. The junior guard also grabbed four rebounds and dished out three assists.
 
Meanwhile Staine poured in a career-high 21 points, with 15 of those coming after halftime. Staine knocked down 7-of-11 from the floor, including a career-high tying five 3-pointers (5-of-7 3FG). 
 
Staine became the third different Trailblazer to drain five 3-pointers in a game this season, while his five made threes on Wednesday night moved him into fourth place on UT's career 3FG made list (131). In addition, Staine vaulted into ninth place on UT's career points list (868), and became the fifth player in the program's NCAA era to record 100 steals after he picked off a pair of steals in the game.  

Christensen finished with 21 points, though he was limited to only five points in the second half. The sophomore connected on 9-of-17 from the floor and pulled down a team-high six rebounds. 

Wednesday's game marked the first time in Utah Tech's new Division I transition, and the third time in the program's NCAA era, that three Trailblazers scored at least 20 points in a game. The other two instances came during the program's time in the Pacific West Conference during the 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons.
 
Utah Tech shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the floor, including an even 50.0 effort (10-of-20) from the perimeter. UT also went 21-of-30 (.700) from the line and outrebounded GCU 32-27.
 
After turning the ball over 20 or more times twice in two home losses last week, the Trailblazers only committed nine miscues on Wednesday night, and were credited with 11 assists on their 27 made field goals.
 
Harrison led all scorers with a career-high 38 points on 13-of-19 shooting, including a blistering 7-of-9 effort from beyond the arc. GCU shot 54.9 percent (28-of-51) from the floor on the night and 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from 3-point country. 
 
Up next
Utah Tech returns home for a Saturday night showdown against New Mexico State. Tip-off inside the Burns Arena is set for 7 p.m.