Seattle University used its ability to cause turnovers, as well as an improved offensive performance in the second half, to come from behind to defeat San Jose State, 67-64, Sunday night in a non-conference men’s collegiate basketball game at KeyArena at Seattle Center.
Down by 10 points with 8:48 remaining in the second half, Seattle U scored 10 unanswered points, including three-pointers by Brendan Westendorf (Kent, Wash.) and Manroop Clair (Vancouver, B.C.) as well as a steal by Westendorf leading to a jumper by Malik Montoya (Federal Way, Wash.), to tie the game at 49-49. Clair answered a Frank Rogers three-pointer with one of his own, but Isaac Thornton scored five points and then earned a steal that led to a basket by Brandon Clarke that put the Spartans back on top, 59-56, with less than four minutes to go in regulation.
Back-to-back jumpers by William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) put the Redhawks ahead, 62-61, and then Jack Crook (Manchester, England) followed two missed Spartan shots with a jumper to increase the Seattle U lead to three. After Rogers made two free throws, each team traded a made free throw, and then Westendorf converted two free throw attempts to extend the Redhawk lead back to three with seven seconds remaining. The Spartans attempted two three-pointers to tie the game, but both were off-target, giving the Redhawks their third straight home victory.
“Not only were we executing in the second half, but we were also making timely buckets and free throws, plus pulling down timely rebounds on the other end,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “When you keep cracking defensively and if you hang in there, even if things aren’t going your way on offense, you always give yourself a chance. We were able to turn a negative for about 30 minutes into a positive. It’s good to see us fight through some adversity and come out on top.”
Clair hit five three-pointers as he led the Redhawks with 15 points, while Powell scored 13 points, 10 of them in the second half. Westendorf finished with nine points, five rebounds, seven assists, and four steals, and Crook led all players by pulling down 10 rebounds.
Jack Shaughnessy (Woodstock, Ga.) scored the first five points of the game, but San Jose State immediately responded, going on a 15-3 scoring run in the span of six-and-a-half minutes. The Redhawks closed to within three thanks in part to three-pointers by Montoya and Clair, but the Spartans put together an 11-4 scoring run, capped by a three-pointer from Ryan Welage, to extend their lead back to 10 at 29-19.
Seattle U scored the first seven points of the second half to close to within one at 33-32, but Cody Schwartz scored four straight points, starting a 13-2 Spartan run over a five-minute span, punctuated by a three-pointer from Schwartz, to give San Jose State its biggest lead of the game at 46-34 with 12:36 left in the second half.
San Jose State (4-7) was led by Thornton with 17 points, four assists, and three steals, while Schwartz finished with 15 points and Welage added 13 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. After shooting 56 percent (14-of-25) from the field in the first half, the Spartans were held to 40.7 percent (11-of-27) field goal shooting in the second half, plus they committed 11 second-half turnovers that led to 14 Redhawk points after halftime.
Seattle U shot 37.7 percent (20-of-53) from the field, including 8-of-19 from behind the three-point line, and 76 percent (19-of-25) from the free throw line. After committing nine turnovers in the first half, the Redhawks did a much better job of protecting the ball after halftime with just three turnovers.
Seattle University (5-6) makes its shortest road trip of the season, facing the Washington Huskies at Alaska Airlines Arena Tuesday, Dec. 22, starting at 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on 770 AM KTTH with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. as well as on the PAC-12 Network with Kevin Calabro and Eldridge Recasner.