In a wire-to-wire effort, Seattle University earned its first Western Athletic Conference win of the 2013-14 season, defeating University of Texas-Pan American, 64-46, Saturday evening in men’s collegiate basketball action at the UTPA Fieldhouse.
Seattle U scored the first 11 points of the game, as Emerson Murray (Vancouver, B.C.) hit a three-pointer and Deshaun Sunderhaus (Conyers, Ga.) made four straight baskets. Alex Majewski finally put UT Pan American on the board with a three-pointer five-and-a-half minutes into the contest, but Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) answered with his own three-pointer.
The rest of the first half saw the two teams basically trading baskets, with the Broncs able to cut their deficit only to seven at 24-17 after a basket by Jamal Dantzler. The Redhawks would score the final six points of the first half, as Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) assisted on baskets by Sunderhaus and Murray, and Luiz Bidart (Sao Paulo, Brazil) hit a jumper in the final minute to give Seattle U a 30-17 lead at halftime.
Clarence Trent (Tacoma, Wash.) and Umipig opened the second half with consecutive three-pointers to extend Seattle U’s lead to 36-17, but five straight points by Shaquille Hines cut the Redhawk lead to 14 at 38-24. Seattle U responded with a 19-7 scoring run, featuring nine points from Umipig and six by Sunderhaus, to take its biggest lead of the game at 57-31, and the Redhawks would eventually complete the victory to snap their four-game losing streak.
“It was a big-time defensive and rebounding effort by the guys tonight, especially playing on the road. I am very proud of how they responded to adversity coming off Thursday’s loss,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said.
Sunderhaus notched his second double-double of the weekend, shooting 9-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from the free throw line for 22 points along with 13 rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots. Umipig struggled from the field, but did his scoring damage from the free throw line in finishing with 16 points along with six rebounds and seven assists.
UTPA (4-14, 0-3 WAC) was led by Javorn Farrell with 14 points and four assists, while Hines collected nine points and nine rebounds. The Broncs were held to 30.4 percent shooting from the field (14-of-46), including 3-of-19 from behind the three-point line, while the Redhawks shot 44.2 percent from the field (23-of-52) and 76.5 percent from the free throw line (13-of-17). In addition, Seattle U dominated the boards, outrebounding the Broncs 43-24, including 10 rebounds from Jack Crook (Manchester, England).
Seattle University (9-7, 1-2 WAC) returns to KeyArena for two games next weekend, starting next Thursday, Jan. 16, against Bakersfield at 7 p.m., followed by a matinee Sunday, Jan. 19, against Utah Valley beginning at 1 p.m. Tickets for both games are on sale through Ticketmaster as well as at GoSeattleU.com.