After jumping out to a 10-point lead early in the first half, Seattle University struggled to maintain its momentum, allowing Bakersfield to pull ahead to its own double-digit advantage, and the Roadrunners were able to hold off the Redhawks, 61-57, Thursday night in Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball action at KeyArena.
Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) bookended Seattle U’s 14-4 scoring run in the first six-and-a-half minutes of the game with three-pointers, as he scored 10 of the Redhawk points. However, Seattle U was held scoreless over the next eight minutes, as Bakersfield rattled off 16 unanswered points to take a 20-14 advantage with less than six minutes to go in the first half.
Down by seven late in the opening half, the Redhawks pulled to within three thanks to two free throws and a three-pointer by Clarence Trent (Tacoma, Wash.). The Roadrunners answered in the final minute thanks to a three-pointer by Stefon Johnson, putting the visitors on top at halftime, 27-21.
Three-pointers by Trent and Umipig, as well as a layup from Jack Crook (Manchester, England), allowed Seattle U to close its deficit to 32-29 three minutes into the second half, but the Roadrunners once again pulled away, using an 8-1 scoring run to extend their lead to 40-30 halfway through the second half. A 9-1 Redhawk run over a four-minute span, punctuated by a layup from D’Vonne Pickett Jr. (Seattle, Wash.), closed the gap to two at 44-42 with 4:49 left in regulation.
Bakersfield (8-9, 1-2 WAC) was able to stretch the lead back to eight points thanks to consecutive three-pointers from Brandon Barnes, but a jumper by Emerson Murray (Vancouver, B.C.) and a traditional three-point play from Deshaun Sunderhaus (Conyers, Ga.) brought the Redhawks back to within three points at 50-47. The Roadrunners would hit 9-of-10 free throw attempts in the final minute to hold off the Redhawks, as Pickett and Umipig combined for Seattle U’s final 10 points of the game.
“We struggled with everything tonight. We did not rebound well, our shooting was off, and we needed to do a better job of passing the ball,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said.
Umipig finished with 21 points, three rebounds, and four assists, while Trent collected nine points and Sunderhaus contributed seven points, nine rebounds, and four blocked shots. As a team, the Redhawks shot just 37.5 percent from the field (18-of-48) and lost the battle of the boards, as Bakersfield outrebounded Seattle U, 38-27.
Issiah Grayson led the Roadrunners with 15 points, with Barnes earning 13 points and Johnson adding 11 points and seven rebounds to the winning effort. Bakersfield was able to pull out the victory despite shooting just 38.3 percent from the field (18-of-47).
Seattle University (9-8, 1-3 WAC) hosts Utah Valley at KeyArena Sunday, Jan. 19, at 1 p.m., with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. broadcasting the game live on 770 AM KTTH, starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or GoSeattleU.com.