Seattle University was able to use different combinations on the court Monday night, all of them showing stifling defense as the Redhawks defeated the Pacific Lutheran Lutes, 72-33, in the fourth annual ShoWare College Classic at the ShoWare Center.
Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) hit four three-pointers as he led the Redhawks with 16 points and four assists, while Jack Crook (Manchester, England) notched a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, plus he dished out three assists. Manroop Clair (Vancouver, B.C.) came off the bench and hit four three-pointers of his own to finish with 12 points, five rebounds, and two steals.
Pacific Lutheran (1-4) took an early 4-2 lead on baskets by Brandon Lester and Austen Wilson, and then tied the game at 7-7 on a three-pointer by Terrell Williams with 12:41 remaining in the first half. The Redhawks took the lead for good when Flora hit three three-pointers over the next two minutes, and then Seattle U scored eight unanswered points, five by Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) followed by another three-pointer from Flora, to extend its advantage to 28-13 with six minutes to go before halftime.
Over the final five minutes of the first half, Seattle U outscored Pacific Lutheran 13-4 to take a 43-21 lead into the locker room at halftime. After Garth West hit a layup to open the second half, the Redhawks held the Lutes scoreless for the next eight and a half minutes, scoring 14 unanswered points to pull ahead, 57-23. With players who previously had not seen a lot of playing time on the floor, Seattle U maintained its defensive intensity, holding the Lutes to 23.1 percent field goal shooting (12-of-52), including 2-of-23 from behind the three-point line.
“Some of our other guys who haven’t played as much, I wanted them to get out on the floor and be able to play and work on our schemes. As a team, we keep getting better. We had a mature effort, especially on the defensive end, where their moving the ball around forced us to be patient and not try to play a different game,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “Offensively, we stuck to our ball movement and fundamentals, and we were able to be successful.”
As a team, Seattle U shot 45.5 percent from the field (25-of-55), including 12-of-27 from behind the three-point line, and 71.4 percent (10-of-14) from the free throw line. The Redhawks dominated the boards, 47-27, and scored 16 points off 12 Lute turnovers, while Pacific Lutheran was able to score only seven points off 11 Redhawk turnovers.
Seattle University (3-3) makes its first true road trip of the 2014-15 season, heading south to face UC Santa Barbara Thursday, Dec. 4, starting at 7:30 p.m., with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. broadcasting the game live on 770 AM KTTH. The Redhawks return to KeyArena Saturday, Dec. 6, to face Eastern Washington at 7 p.m., with Apl.de.ap of The Black Eyed Peas and Massive Monkees performing at halftime. Tickets for that game, as well as all remaining Seattle U home games at KeyArena, are available through Ticketmaster and the KeyArena Box Office.