The Seattle University men's basketball team fell behind midway through the first half and could not put together a significant run in the second half, as Harvard stayed undefeated with an 80-70 victory Sunday afternoon at Lavietes Pavilion.
Clarence Trent (Tacoma, Wash.) led the Redhawks with 14 points, while Aaron Broussard (Federal Way, Wash.) finished with 12 points, three rebounds, three assists, and four steals. Seattle U shot 53.8 percent (28-of-52) from the field, but only 50 percent (9-of-18) from the free throw line while Harvard hit 29-of-36 (80.6 percent) of its attempts from the charity stripe and won the rebounding battle, 37-28, including 15 offensive boards that led to 24 second chance points.
With the score tied at 6-6 early in the first half, Harvard took the lead on back-to-back baskets by Keith Wright and Kyle Casey. Corbin Miller capped off a 9-2 Crimson run with a three-pointer, but the Redhawks fought back thanks to consecutive field goals from Allen Tate (Hobbs, N.M.) and Louis Green (Westchester, Ill.), cutting the Harvard lead to four at 20-16.
Harvard (8-0) scored seven unanswered points over the next three minutes to extend its lead to 11 at 27-16, but Prince Obasi (Reseda, Calif.) hit consecutive three-pointers to pull the Redhawks back within five at 27-22. The Crimson outscored the Redhawks, 15-7, over the final seven minutes of the first half, starting with a traditional three-point play by Jonah Travis and concluding with a offensive rebound and dunk by Travis, to give Harvard a 42-30 halftime advantage.
In the second half, Seattle U never got closer than nine points behind when Trent scored seven unanswered points to cut the Crimson lead to 58-49 with 11:26 left in regulation. Harvard extended its lead back to 16 at 70-54 with a 12-5 scoring run, led by six points from Brandyn Curry, and the Crimson would cruise to their eighth consecutive victory to start the season.
Obasi, Tate, and Green scored eight points apiece for the Redhawks, with Tate pulling down five rebounds and Green hitting all four of his field goal attempts. Eric Wallace (Winston-Salem, N.C.) led Seattle U with six rebounds to go along with six points, but he played only 17 minutes because of foul trouble throughout the contest.
Travis led the Crimson with a double-double, collecting 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 shooting from the free throw line to go along with 10 rebounds. Laurent Rivard contributed 14 points, Curry earned eight points, four assists, and three steals, and Steve Moundou-Missi also scored eight points, plus he pulled down six rebounds.
The Redhawks (2-4) head back home for finals before hosting Idaho at KeyArena next Sunday, Dec. 11, beginning at 3 p.m. Dave Grosby and Gary Hill, Jr., will broadcast the game live on 710 ESPN Seattle starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff. Tickets for all Seattle U home basketball games are on sale through Ticketmaster and the KeyArena box office.