The Seattle University Redhawks matched the New Mexico State Aggies point-for-point for most of the night, but the Aggies were able to pull away late in the second half and then hold off a furious Seattle U comeback to defeat the Redhawks, 70-68, Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Orleans Arena.
“It was a tough, hard-fought game from beginning to end, and it’s a shame that either team had to lose at the end. I am extremely proud of my guys and how they competed,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “We played pretty good defensively and contested some shots. Offensively, we did a good job of continuing to move. Their guards do an effective job of applying pressure on the perimeter, but we were able to challenge them in all facets of the game tonight.”
The early part of the game went back-and-forth until a three-pointer by DK Eldridge and a layup from Tshilidzi Nephawe gave New Mexico State a 12-8 lead four minutes into the contest. The Redhawks answered with nine unanswered points over the next three-and-a-half minutes to pull ahead, 17-12, before a jumper by Eldridge ended the scoring run.
Back-to-back jumpers by Jack Crook (Manchester, England) kept the Redhawks ahead midway through the first half, but two free throws from Renaldo Dixon and four points from Nephawe tied the game at 22-22 with less than eight minutes to go. Layups by Shore Adenekan (London, England) and William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.), as well as a three-pointer from Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.), helped Seattle U reestablish the lead at 29-25.
A steal and layup by Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) gave the Redhawks their biggest lead of the first half at 33-27, but New Mexico State scored the final four points of the half to bring the contest to within two at halftime, 33-31. The Aggies committed 10 turnovers in the first half, but shot 14-of-15 from the free throw line to stay close.
Crook hit three baskets, two of them off offensive rebounds, as Seattle U stayed on top of the Aggies early in the second half, 41-37. After Umipig hit a three-pointer to extend the Redhawks’ lead to 45-39, the Aggies scored 11 unanswered points, five by Eldridge, to pull ahead, 50-45, with 6:30 remaining in regulation.
A traditional three-point play from Crook closed the Redhawk deficit to four at 56-52, but two free throws by Daniel Mullings and a three-pointer by Eldridge gave New Mexico State its biggest lead of the game at 61-52 with just over three minutes left in the second half.
The Redhawks kept fighting back, as baskets by Umipig and Powell cut the Seattle U deficit to four, and then five points from D'Vonne Pickett Jr. (Seattle, Wash.) made the score 67-64 in New Mexico State’s favor with less than a minute to go. After Sim Bhullar made a free throw, Umipig hit a three-pointer with 15 seconds remaining to cut the Aggie lead to one at 68-67.
Eldridge made two free throws, and then New Mexico State fouled Pickett to prevent a three-point shot attempt. Pickett made the first and intentionally missed the second, with the rebound falling into Powell’s hands, but his putback attempt went off the glass and off the rim, and Bhullar grabbed the rebound as time ran out.
Umipig led the Redhawks with 25 points, including all five of Seattle U’s three-pointers, while Crook notched his second double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Pickett contributed 10 points and six assists, and Powell added six points and seven rebounds off the bench for Seattle U.
New Mexico State (24-9) was led by a double-double from Bhullar with 24 points and 14 rebounds, plus he blocked five shots, while Eldridge finished with 19 points and Nephawe contributed 15 points and eight rebounds. Mullings, the WAC Player of the Year, was held scoreless until the 7:36 mark of the second half, but he still finished with eight points and six assists.
As a team, Seattle U shot 37.7 percent (26-of-69) from the field, including 5-of-21 from behind the three-point line, and 68.8 percent (11-of-16) from the free throw line. The Redhawks committed a season-low eight turnovers in the game while scoring 15 points off 16 Aggie turnovers. New Mexico State won the rebounding battle, 38-34, and hit 86.2 percent (25-of-29) of its free throw attempts during the game.
Seattle University sees its 2013-14 season end with a 13-17 overall record, an improvement of five games from the previous year. Pickett and Clarence Trent (Tacoma, Wash.) played their final games as Redhawks, but Seattle U is eligible to return 10 players who saw action during the 2013-14 campaign, plus Theo Turner and Manroop Clair, who redshirted this season.