Seattle University outrebounded Sacramento State, but the Hornets prevailed at the end, defeating the Redhawks 77-65 Sunday afternoon in a men’s non-conference collegiate basketball game at KeyArena at Seattle Center.
Brendan Westendorf (Kent, Wash.) led Seattle U with 18 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists, notching his first career double-double as a Redhawk. Jack Crook (Manchester, England) also earned a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds along with two steals, and William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) finished with eight points, 10 rebounds, and three assists.
The first half went back-and-forth with five ties and 11 lead changes, but Seattle U gained some momentum when Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) hit a three-pointer to put the Redhawks on top, 16-13. The Hornets responded with a 12-3 scoring run over the next three minutes, capped by consecutive three-pointers from Justin Strings and Jiday Ugbaja to pull ahead, 25-21.
The Redhawks held the Hornets scoreless over the final five minutes of the first half and the first three-and-a-half minutes of the second half, scoring 12 unanswered points to retake the lead at 33-25. After a layup by Powell gave Seattle U its biggest lead of the game at 35-26, Sacramento State started hitting its long distance shots, as a three-pointer from Jeff Wu as well as two by Marcus Graves pulled the Hornets into a 37-37 tie.
Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.) converted on a traditional three-point play to tie the game at 42-42 with 10:31 left in the second half, but Sacramento State went on a 10-2 scoring run, starting with a three-pointer by Wu, to take the lead for good. The Redhawks closed their deficit to five at 55-50 on a putback by Crook, but Graves hit another three-pointer to extend the Hornet lead into double figures, where it remained for the final four minutes.
“I thought we played pretty well again, even in the second half because we were able to get to the bonus with about 13 minutes left, but we missed the front end of three one-and-one opportunities, and that set the tone for the scoring drought that continued,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “We have to take our time and knock those shots down. We are a better shooting team than we have shown in the past two games.”
Graves scored 21 of his game-high 24 points in the second half as the Hornets shot 53.1 percent from the field (17-of-32) after halftime. Sacramento State also received solid bench production, as Wu finished with 14 points and Strings contributed 13 points and six rebounds.
The Redhawks won the rebounding battle, 54-40, including 24 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second chance points. However, Seattle U could not turn Sacramento State over, as the Hornets committed only 10 turnovers in the game.
Seattle University (0-2) heads to Cheney, Wash., to face the Eastern Washington Eagles Tuesday, Nov. 17, at 6 p.m., with the rematch taking place at KeyArena next Monday, Nov. 23, at 7 p.m. Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast Tuesday’s game live on 770 AM KTTH, starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff.