Seattle University jumped out to an early lead, but Idaho came back in the second half to take the lead, and the Vandals held on for a 70-69 victory over the Redhawks Tuesday night at Cowan Spectrum.
Down 65-62 with five minutes left in regulation, Seattle U fought back, first with an offensive rebound and putback by Aaron Broussard (Federal Way, Wash.), followed by a three-pointer from Chad Rasmussen (University Place, Wash.) to give the Redhawks a 67-65 lead with 3:21 left in the second half. The two teams traded free throws in the next two minutes to keep Seattle U ahead, 69-67, with 2:43 remaining in the game.
After each team traded possessions without scoring, Idaho pulled ahead thanks to a three-pointer by Deremy Geiger with 1:24 left in the game. Broussard's layup attempt with 1:06 left rolled out, but the Vandals could not increase the lead, committing a turnover. After Seattle U failed to score on its next possession, Landon Tatum was fouled, but missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving the Redhawks one final chance with 14 seconds remaining in regulation.
However, because Idaho was called for only three fouls in the second half up to this point, it was able to give three fouls without sending the Redhawks to the line, killing about nine seconds off the clock. On Seattle U's final chance, Broussard was able to get off a jumper, but it was unsuccessful, and the buzzer sounded with the Vandals holding on for the victory and the season sweep over the Redhawks.
Broussard led Seattle U with 20 points and nine rebounds, hitting four three-pointers during the game. Sterling Carter (Seattle, Wash.) also hit four three-pointers, all in the first half, as he finished with 12 points, six rebounds, and four assists, while Cervante Burrell (Sacramento, Calif.) notched a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists, the most assists given up by Idaho since Dec. 6, 2006.
Carter hit two three-pointers in the first two minutes as Seattle U jumped out to a 10-3 advantage, and Broussard nailed back-to-back three-pointers to cap an 11-1 Redhawk run to increase the lead to 25-11 seven minutes into the game. The Redhawks took their biggest lead of the game at 38-21 thanks to an 8-0 run that featured three-pointers from Carter and Broussard sandwiched around a layup by Louis Green (Westchester, Ill.).
Idaho (13-11) started chipping away at the lead, closing to within 12 at 45-33 at halftime, and then further closing the gap to four at 47-43 thanks to two dunks by Kyle Barone and two three-pointers from Stephen Madison early in the second half. A 10-2 scoring run by the Vandals over the next five minutes put the home team ahead, 53-51, before another three-pointer by Broussard started a see-saw battle through the final 10 minutes of the game.
Djim Bandoumel scored five points during a 7-0 Vandal run to give Idaho its biggest lead of the night at 62-56 with 7:14 left in the second half, but back-to-back three-pointers by Rasmussen and Clarence Trent (Tacoma, Wash.) cut the Redhawk deficit to two at 64-62, and a made free throw by Barone set up the final five minutes of action.
Barone led the Vandals with a double-double, collecting 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Madison earned 16 points and seven rebounds and Geiger also finished with 16 points. As a team, Idaho shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field, including 8-of-22 from behind the three-point line, and 50 percent (12-of-24) from the free throw line.
Eric Wallace (Winston-Salem, N.C.) also scored 10 points, plus he pulled down six rebounds, and Rasmussen contributed nine points thanks to three made three-pointers in the game. Seattle U shot 42.2 percent (27-of-64) from the field, including 12-of-25 from behind the three-point line, the most made three-pointers in a game this season. However, the Redhawks only made four trips to the charity stripe, converting on three of them, and were outrebounded, 40-36.
Seattle University (6-14) briefly returns to Seattle before heading back on the road Friday, flying cross country in preparation of the first of two games this season against Longwood University Saturday, Feb. 11, at 2 p.m. local time (11 a.m. Pacific time). Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the game live on 710 ESPN Seattle, beginning with the pregame show shortly before tipoff.