Seattle University battled New Mexico State throughout the night, but the Aggies prevailed, 68-60, Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball game at KeyArena.
Brendan Westendorf (Auburn, Wash.) led the Redhawks with 16 points, seven rebounds, and four assists, while Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) shot 6-of-8 from the field as he finished with 15 points. Manroop Clair (Vancouver, B.C.) hit four three-pointers as he contributed 15 points of his own.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Cohee and Westendorf gave Seattle U an early 8-7 lead, but New Mexico State pulled ahead thanks to consecutive layups from Tanveer Bhullar and Pascal Siakam. After a three-pointer by Sidy Ndir gave the Aggies a 17-10 advantage midway through the first half, the Redhawks went on a 12-3 scoring run over the next seven-and-a-half minutes. Jalyn Pennie put the Aggies ahead for good with consecutive three-pointers in the final minute of the first half, giving New Mexico State a 26-22 halftime lead.
After Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.) hit a jumper 40 seconds into the second half, New Mexico State went on a 17-4 scoring run over the next seven minutes, led by nine points from Siakam, to take its biggest lead of the night at 43-28 with 12 minutes remaining in the second half.
Three-pointers by Chibuogwu, Clair, and Westendorf over the next two minutes closed the Aggie lead to six at 43-37, but New Mexico State responded with eight unanswered points, five of them scored by Siakam, to extend its lead back to 14 at 53-39. After trading points with the Aggies, the Redhawks closed their deficit to five at 63-58 thanks to a layup by Cohee and a three-pointer from Clair, but New Mexico State went 5-for-6 from the free throw line over the final 1:15 to close out the game.
“I was pleased with our guys’ overall effort, as they fought and scrapped from beginning to end. They did a really good job of creating turnovers, but we could not capitalize on some of those opportunities,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “We are still feeling our way out a little bit trying to score efficiently and not turn the ball over as much as we have.”
New Mexico State (12-8, 4-1 WAC) was led by Siakam, who notched a double-double with 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Ian Baker was 8-for-8 from the free throw line as he scored 15 points. In the game, the Aggies shot 46.7 percent (21-of-45) from the field, including 4-of-15 from behind the three-point line, and 84.6 percent (22-of-26) from the free throw line.
Thanks to a 15-for-24 field goal shooting performance after halftime, Seattle U finished at 51.1 percent (23-of-45) from the field, including 8-of-12 from behind the three-point line. The Redhawks scored 22 points off 24 New Mexico State turnovers, the most by a Seattle U opponent this season.
Seattle University (7-11, 1-3 WAC) concludes the homestand against the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros Saturday, Jan. 23, starting at 7 p.m. at KeyArena. Tickets for all remaining home games are on sale through Ticketmaster or the KeyArena Box Office, and Saturday’s game will be shown by the WAC Digital Network (www.wacsports.com/live) as well as broadcast on 770 AM KTTH.