Grand Canyon locked up the WAC Championship with a 10-point lead and a late windmill dunk that lit a spark on the court. The dunk came after a missed shot by the opposing team and a no-call on a rebound, which led to an outlet pass and a showtime finish from number eight. The celebration didn’t sit well with the other team. Number one ran the full court to bump the dunker, and number four followed by throwing the ball at him. Things got tense fast.
Grand Canyon’s head coach reacted immediately, yelling for his players to stay out of it and keeping his guys off the court. He moved quickly and took charge, trying to prevent any ejections. One of his assistants stepped up by holding back multiple players and recognizing the situation before it exploded. But not every coach on the bench did their part. One abandoned his spot on the baseline, letting players into the fray. Others stood frozen. It took a few coaches scrambling over chairs to try to clean up the mess. In the end, the officials reviewed it all and handed out technicals and ejections. Blue number one got a flagrant two, Blue number four picked up a technical, and White number one got tossed for leaving the bench. Grand Canyon’s coach owned up to the bench ejection, saying “that’s our bad.”
Despite the chaos, the fans and players celebrated hard. The gym erupted as Grand Canyon locked in the title, with kids going wild in the stands and the team soaking it in. Amid the flare-ups and mistakes, the win stood, and Grand Canyon came out on top.