Thanks to a career scoring performance from Shaun Burl (Berkeley, Calif.) and solid play off the bench from Aaron Broussard (Federal Way, Wash.) and Drew Harris (Yakima, Wash.), the Seattle University men’s basketball team jumped out to an early lead and held off Puerto Rico-Bayamon for a 78-59 victory Sunday night.
Burl shot 7-of-9 from the field in scoring 16 points, plus he pulled down seven rebounds and dished out five assists. Broussard notched his first career double-double, also hitting 7-of-9 field goal attempts to score 14 points to go along with 14 rebounds and three steals. Harris hit four three-pointers and finished with 14 points, two assists, and two steals.
SeattleU jumped out to a 16-3 lead six minutes into the game and later extended its advantage with 18 unanswered points, the first 13 points of the run scored by guards Burl, Harris, and Taylor Olson (Seattle, Wash.). Down by 24 in the second half, Puerto Rico-Bayamon went on a 17-2 run to come within nine (66-57), but the Redhawks allowed only two points the rest of the way to earn their third straight victory and fourth win in their last five games.
Mike Boxley (Mountlake Terrace, Wash.) also reached double figures in points with 11 to go along with six rebounds, five assists, a blocked shot, and a steal. Michael Wright (Lakewood, Wash.) scored five points and pulled down nine rebounds, Chris Gweth (Beaverton, Ore.) went 5-of-6 from the free throw line on his way to a seven-point, three-assist performance, Austen Powers (Glendale, Ariz.) contributed six points and three rebounds, and Olson added five points and three assists to the winning effort.
Angel Feliciano led Puerto Rico-Bayamon with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Javier Ayuso added 11 points for the home team. PR-Bayamon shot only 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field and 50 percent (14-of-28) from the free throw line and committed 12 turnovers. Meanwhile, Seattle University shot 51.8 percent (29-of-56) from the field, including seven three-pointers, and won the rebounding battle, 48-31.
Seattle University (11-6) returns home to start a series of contests against programs also in Year One of the reclassification process, beginning next Saturday, Jan. 24, with a game against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Connolly Center, or approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the women’s basketball game between the two schools.