After taking the early lead, Seattle University fell behind in the second half, but the Redhawks put together an exciting comeback that fell just short as 24th-ranked Virginia held on for an 83-77 victory Wednesday night at KeyArena.
Aaron Broussard (Federal Way, Wash.) shot 12-of-17 from the field on his way to a career-high 29 points, plus he pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, including six offensive boards. Making his first appearance in the starting lineup, Sterling Carter (Seattle, Wash.) hit four three-pointers to finish with 17 points and six rebounds, and Clarence Trent (Tacoma, Wash.) contributed 12 points.
Seattle U jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game, punctuated by a three-pointer from Carter. A three-pointer by Virginia's Sammy Zeglinski brought the Cavaliers to within two at 15-13, but a long distance basket by Chad Rasmussen (University Place, Wash.) concluded a 7-2 Redhawk run that extended the home team's advantage to 22-15.
After a three-pointer by Trent lengthened the Redhawk lead to eight at 32-24, Virginia went on a 12-4 scoring run over the next five minutes to pull into a 36-36 tie. On Seattle U's last possession of the half, Cervante Burrell (Sacramento, Calif.) was able to draw a foul and make both free throws to give the Redhawks a 38-36 advantage heading into the locker room at halftime.
Virginia (10-1) took the lead in the second half thanks to a 12-0 scoring run over a four-minute span, followed by a 6-0 run later in the half to give the Cavaliers their biggest lead of the game, 63-49, with 8:45 left in the game. At that time, Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar seemingly sparked his players by picking up a technical foul, and the Redhawks responded by outscoring the Cavaliers, 19-4, over the next five minutes, with a layup by Broussard giving Seattle U a 68-67 lead.
Zeglinski scored Virginia's next five points with a three-pointer and two free throws, starting a stretch in which the Cavaliers went 11-for-14 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes to hold off Seattle U's comeback. For the game, Virginia went 27-of-38 (71.1%) from the free throw line, while the Redhawks hit 11-of-15 (73.3%) from the charity stripe.
Mike Scott shot 12-of-14 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free throw line to end up with 33 points and 14 rebounds, while Chelan native Joe Harris made his group of fans happy with a 14-point performance.
Seattle University (2-8) will host the Elgin Baylor Classic Thursday and Friday, Dec. 29-30, at KeyArena. After Coppin State faces San Jose State next Thursday, Dec. 29, at 6 p.m., the Redhawks will take on Nebraska-Omaha at 8:15 p.m. The Friday, Dec. 30 doubleheader will begin with Coppin State taking on Nebraska-Omaha at 6 p.m., followed by Seattle U going against San Jose State at 8:15 p.m.