After Seattle University rallied from a five-point deficit in the final minute of regulation to force overtime and scored the first points of the extra period, Bakersfield rattled off 11 unanswered points to earn a 71-61 overtime victory over the Redhawks Saturday night in a Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball game at the Icardo Center.
William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the free throw line, plus he collected four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Emerson Murray (Vancouver, B.C.) notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, plus he dished out seven assists and had two steals, and Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) contributed 10 points off the bench.
After Bakersfield retook the lead early in the second half, 34-33, on a three-pointer from Cortez Conners, the Redhawks scored six unanswered points, four of those points coming from Powell. The Roadrunners closed to within one at 39-38, but six points from Cohee on three driving layups allowed the Redhawks to extend their lead to 48-41.
The Roadrunners rallied back thanks to two free throws from Aly Ahmed and a traditional three-point play from Jaylin Arrington, and then Ahmed hit a basket to tie the game at 48-48 with 5:22 remaining in regulation. Ahmed would once again hit a layup one minute later and complete a traditional three-point play to put the Roadrunners on top, 51-48.
Down 53-48 with less than a minute remaining, Isiah Umipig (Federal Way, Wash.) was fouled attempting a three-pointer, hitting all three free throws to cut the Redhawk deficit to two. After the teams exchanged one free throw each, Seattle U executed an inbounds play perfectly, as Powell hit a wide-open layup with 4.5 seconds to tie the game, and the Roadrunners could not answer on their final possession, forcing overtime.
Murray hit a three-pointer to give Seattle U the lead in the extra period, but Kevin Mays scored seven points during the Bakersfield run that put the Roadrunners on top for good. CSUB went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final 30 seconds to close out the contest.
Ahmed and Mays each notched double-doubles as Bakersfield dominated the boards with 40 rebounds, including 17 offensive rebounds. Ahmed earned 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Mays contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds, helping the Roadrunners score 18 second-chance points during the game.
Bakersfield (8-14, 3-3 WAC) scored the first five points of the game before Seattle U scored the next seven, with jumpers by Powell sandwiched around a three-pointer from Murray. The game would go back-and-forth with nine ties and six lead changes in the first half, with Javonte Maynor hitting two three-pointers late in the half to give the Roadrunners a 27-23 advantage.
Down by four with just over one minute remaining before halftime, the Redhawks rallied thanks to two free throws by Umipig and a jumper by Jarell Flora (Bremerton, Wash.) just before the buzzer. As a team, Seattle U shot 55 percent (11-of-20) from the field in the first half and 75 percent (6-of-8) from the free throw line to offset five made three-pointers by Bakersfield.
For the game, the Redhawks shot 46.8 percent (22-of-47) from the field, including 3-of-11 from behind the three-point line, and 63.6 percent (14-of-22) from the free throw line. Averaging close to 18 points per game coming into the night, Umipig scored just five points, all on free throws, before fouling out near the end of regulation.
Seattle University (10-10, 3-3 WAC) returns to KeyArena for two home games next weekend, taking on Grand Canyon Thursday, Feb. 5, and Utah Valley Saturday, Feb. 7, with both games beginning at 7 p.m. The games will be streamed online through the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/watch), plus Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the games live on 770 AM KTTH, starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff. Tickets for the five remaining Seattle U home games at KeyArena are available through Ticketmaster and the KeyArena Box Office.