REDOUT: Seattle University looks to extend a six-game home winning streak Wednesday night against Longwood University in a rematch from an exciting overtime contest earlier this month in Farmville, Va. These two teams are wrapping up their final seasons as Division I independents before joining leagues next year.
PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP
Seattle University
- Guard: #5 Cervante Burrell - 5-10, 170 - Sr.
- Guard: #10 Sterling Carter - 6-0, 200 - So.
- Forward: #2 Aaron Broussard - 6-5, 225 - Sr.
- Forward: #12 Clarence Trent - 6-6, 225 - So.
- Forward: #25 Eric Wallace - 6-7, 233 - Sr.
THE FRESNO STATE GAME: Seattle University held the early lead and threatened to come from behind in the second half, but the Redhawks could not overcome a career scoring performance by Fresno State sophomore Kevin Olekaibe, whose 43 points helped the Bulldogs pull out a 78-72 victory last Thursday night at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, Calif. Aaron Broussard led the Redhawks with 19 points and seven rebounds, while Clarence Trent shot 7-of-11 from the field in scoring 14 points and Prince Obasi came off the bench and contributed 12 points and five assists. However, Olekaibe shot 12-of-25 from the field, including five made three-pointers, and 14-of-14 from the free throw line in accumulating his 43 points, the most by a Fresno State player in almost 12 years and the most against Seattle U in over six years. Seattle U shot 58.3 percent from the field in the first half and held Fresno State to 34.4 percent field goal shooting, but the Bulldogs were 8-for-8 from the free throw line while the Redhawks made just 1-of-4 attempts from the charity stripe before halftime. The Redhawks cooled off in the second half, hitting only 40.5 percent of their field goal attempts after halftime. However, Fresno State took advantage of its opportunities from the free throw line, hitting 79.5 percent (31-of-39) of its attempts from the charity stripe in the game, while Seattle U missed half of its free throw chances (8-of-16). Fresno State won the rebounding battle, 37-35.
SCOUTING LONGWOOD: The Lancers come into Wednesday's game with a 10-20 overall record. This is the final game of the season for Longwood and the final contest in a three-game, five-day road trip after losing to NJIT (94-51) and to Gonzaga (92-60). The Lancers are 2-13 in true road games. Longwood is scoring 73.4 points per game and giving up 83.5 points per contest. As a team, the Lancers are shooting 43.8 percent from the field, including 35.2 percent from behind the three-point line, and 67.7 percent from the free throw line. Antwan Carter leads the team with 19.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game, as he is shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 71.4 percent from the free throw line. Tristan Carey is contributing 13.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game. Martiz Washington leads the team with 80 made three-pointers as he is averaging 10.9 points per game. Jan van der Kooij has started every game for the Lancers this season, averaging 6.8 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Only seven players have seen action for Longwood in the past two games.
THE FIRST MEETING: Seattle University fought back twice from double-digit deficits in the second half to force overtime and, after falling behind in the overtime session, came back again, capped by a putback from senior Aaron Broussard with 1.2 seconds remaining, to defeat Longwood University, 100-99, Feb. 11 at Willett Hall in Farmville, Va. Longwood pulled ahead 97-93 with 45 seconds left in the overtime session with a jumper by Antwan Carter and two free throws from Tristan Carey. Broussard made two free throws to cut the Lancer lead in half, but Jan van der Kooij converted on two free throws to extend Longwood's advantage to 99-95 with 16 seconds left in the overtime period. Chad Rasmussen hit a three-pointer to cut the Lancer lead to one, and Seattle U forced Carey into a turnover, Longwood's 18th turnover after halftime. Clarence Trent missed a three-point attempt, but Eric Wallace grabbed the rebound. The ball somehow found its way to Broussard, who kissed the ball off the glass through the net to give Seattle U its first road victory since November. Broussard finished the game with 33 points, the third time he has scored more than 30 points this season, on 14-of-25 shooting from the field, plus he pulled down eight rebounds, dished out three assists, and earned two steals.
NATIONAL STATISTICAL RANKINGS: Aaron Broussard is now 39th in Division I in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game. As a team, the Redhawks are fourth in the country in rebounding (40.7 rpg) and 41st in scoring (74.4 ppg).