The Seattle University men’s basketball team played together throughout Wednesday night’s contest, as several players made significant contributions in the Redhawks’ 98-74 victory over the Nebraska Omaha Mavericks in a non-conference contest at KeyArena.
Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) led the Redhawks with 24 points, plus he pulled down five rebounds and dished out six assists while shooting 7-of-15 from the field, including 6-of-9 from behind the three-point line, and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) scored 20 of his 22 points in the first half, plus he grabbed eight rebounds. Jack Crook (Manchester, England) notched a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, and William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) nearly did the same, finishing with nine points and 11 rebounds.
“That is probably one of the best shooting performances over the course of a game here at the Key that I have seen,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “There was a lot of ball movement and man movement, we were really hard to guard. It’s good to see the guys play well and have fun playing with each other.”
Nebraska Omaha (1-1) scored seven of the first nine points of the game, including five in a row by Tre’Shawn Thurman, and held a 12-10 lead four minutes into the contest after Thurman hit a three-pointer. The Redhawks took control thanks to 12 unanswered points over the next three minutes, with Flora scoring five of those points and Umipig punctuating the run with a three-pointer.
After the Mavericks closed their deficit to six on back-to-back three-pointers by Tim Smallwood, Seattle U went on a 22-5 scoring run over a seven-minute span, capped by consecutive alley-oop dunks from Shore Adenekan (London, England). Another alley-oop dunk, this time from Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.), as well as a layup from Crook, gave the Redhawks a 53-29 lead at halftime, equaling their point total from the entire game last Friday.
Nebraska Omaha opened the second half with an 11-3 scoring run, featuring consecutive layups from C.J. Carter, to close the Redhawk lead to 16 at 56-40. Seattle U outscored the Mavericks 20-6 over the next five-and-a-half minutes, led by four three-pointers from Umipig, to take its biggest lead of the night at 76-46 with 11:20 left in the game.
The Mavericks made one final push, outscoring the Redhawks 15-5 over the next four minutes to make the score 81-61, but Seattle U scored eight unanswered points during the ensuing two minutes to put the game away. After shooting 64.7 percent from the field (22-of-34) in the first half, Seattle U hit only 42.4 percent of its field goal attempts (14-of-33) after halftime, but still ended at 53.7 percent from the field (36-of-67), including 11-of-19 from behind the three-point line, and 68.2 percent (15-of-22) from the free throw line.
Carter led the Mavericks with 17 points and four assists, while Thurman finished with 10 points and eight rebounds and Rylan Murray contributed 10 points off the bench. After earning more offensive rebounds than its opponent had total rebounds in its season opener Sunday, Nebraska Omaha was outrebounded by Seattle U, 49-37, and shot only 36.1 percent from the field (26-of-72), including 8-of-29 from behind the three-point line.
Seattle University (1-1) hosts the annual crosstown showdown against the University of Washington Friday, Nov. 21, starting at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on JoeTV and will also be broadcast on 770 AM KTTH with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster or the KeyArena Box Office.