After a long journey just to get to the gym for the game, the men’s basketball team came back from a 17-point deficit to pull out an 83-76 victory over Thursday night in GNAC action at Nicholson Pavilion.
Due to road closures at several passes over the Cascades, left campus at 12:30 p.m. and took a longer route to arrive in Ellensburg in time for the game. Obviously the visitors needed some time to recover from the bus trip, as jumped out to a 32-15 lead with 7:50 remaining in the first half. started its comeback with a 9-3 run in the last four minutes of the first half to go into halftime down only 40-30.
Central Washington (11-6, 5-3 GNAC) held a 13-point advantage with 14:28 remaining in the second half, but Seattle University came storming back, outscoring the Wildcats 16-3 over the next six minutes to tie the game 51-51. Colton Monti hit a three-pointer and a layup as Central Washington scored seven unanswered points, but Michael Wright (Lakewood, Wash.) converted on a dunk and a jumper, and Ryan Coldren (Fall Creek, Ore.) nailed a three-pointer and a jumper to give Seattle University a 62-60 lead.
The Wildcats tied the game at 62-62, but took the lead for good as Chris Gweth () followed his own miss with a layup. A three-pointer by Coldren with 1:25 left extended ’s lead to four points, and the Redhawks hit 9-of-10 free throw attempts in the final 30 seconds to ice the game.
Coldren shot 6-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-3 from the three-point line, and 5-of-6 from the free throw line to lead SeattleU with 19 points and two blocked shots. Gweth notched his first double-double of his career with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Wright shot 7-of-10 from the field in contributing 14 points and eight rebounds. Shaun Burl () was 6-of-6 from the free throw line, plus he pulled down four rebounds and dished out a game-high seven assists.
Nate Jackson led the Wildcats with 19 points, four assists, and three steals, while Jake Beitinger finished with 18 points, six rebounds, and three blocked shots. Brandon Foote did most of his scoring at the charity stripe, hitting 12-of-15 free throws on his way to 17 points and four rebounds off the bench.
After shooting just 37.5 percent from the field in the first half, hit 58.3 percent of its field goal attempts in the second half. Meanwhile, shot only 25.7 percent from the field in the second half after hitting 48.1 percent of its first half field goal attempts. Both teams took advantage of their opportunities at the free throw line, as SeattleU went 25-of-30 while went 24-of-32 at the foul line. The Redhawks won the rebounding battle, 42-30.
Seattle University (11-6, 4-4 GNAC) will look to keep the momentum going Saturday night as it heads north to Bellingham to face Western Washington beginning at 7 p.m. The Redhawks do not return home until Thursday, Feb. 14, against Saint Martin’s beginning at 7 p.m. at the .