Michael Wright (, ) and Chris Gweth () each posted career-high scoring performances as the Seattle University men’s basketball team won its fourth straight game overall and its eighth straight home contest with a 99-82 victory over SIU Edwardsville Saturday night at the Connolly Center.
Gweth was perfect from the field, hitting all nine of his field goal attempts, including four three-pointers, plus he shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line to finish with 29 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Wright scored 14 of his 22 points in the first half, ending the night shooting 10-of-13 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line, plus he pulled down 13 rebounds, and dished out eight assists to come close to a triple-double.
SeattleU jumped out to an 18-4 lead in the first six minutes of the game and maintained a double-digit lead for the final 35 minutes of the contest. SIU Edwardsville came within 11 at 69-58 with 9:17 remaining in the second half, but Gweth scored four of the next six points, and eventually extended the lead to 21 at 91-70 with 2:26 left to finish off the Cougars.
Austen Powers (, ) earned 11 points and four rebounds, while Aaron Broussard () had another solid night off the bench with ten points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and five rebounds. Mike Boxley (, ) earned nine points and four rebounds, Drew Harris (, ) also scored nine points, and Shaun Burl () contributed six points, seven assists, and two steals to the winning cause.
shot a season-high 68.4 percent from the field, hitting 39-of-57 field goal attempts. The team earned assists on 21 of those field goals and committed only ten turnovers while forcing SIU Edwardsville into 15 turnovers and winning the rebounding battle, 32-24. It was the highest field goal percentage for SeattleU in a game since hitting 60.8 percent against BYU-Hawaii on Jan. 18, 2006.
“The team shared the ball well offensively tonight, and any coach would be proud of the fact that his team earned 21 assists and turned the ball over only ten times,” head coach Joe Callero said. “Michael Wright had his best overall game as a SeattleU basketball player, and he is really picking up the load for an injured Leigh Swanson.”
SIU Edwardsville (7-14) stayed in the game by hitting 14 three-pointers, over half of the team’s field goals. Mark Yelovich hit four three-pointers and finished with a team-high 25 points, while Barry Wellington also hit four long distance shots and earned 18 points during the game. Brandon Dunson contributed 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds off the bench as the Cougars shot 47.4 percent (27-of-57) from the field and 14-of-18 from the free throw line.
(12-6) will face SIU Edwardsville in the rematch next Saturday, Jan. 31, beginning at 7:30 p.m. local time in The team returns to the to start a three-game homestand Saturday, Feb. 7, against starting at approximately 7:30 p.m. at the .