Seattle University rallied from a halftime deficit to take the lead late in the second half and then, after Grand Canyon University had pulled back into a tie, Emmanuel Chibuogwu (Seattle, Wash.) tipped in a rebound in the final seconds to give the Redhawks a 59-57 victory over the Antelopes Saturday night at the GCU Arena.
Down 35-28 at halftime, Seattle U quickly scored the first four points of the second half on a layup by William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) and a jumper by Jack Crook (Manchester, England). After the two teams traded baskets for the next six minutes, Jake Spurgeon (Lake Oswego, Ore.) hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 41-41, but Gerard Martin answered with his own three-pointer to put Grand Canyon back on top with 11:41 left in the second half.
A layup by Dominic Magee increased the Antelope lead to five, but the Redhawks put together a 14-3 scoring run over a five-and-a-half minute span, capped by a three-pointer from Manroop Clair (Vancouver, Wash.) and consecutive layups by Brendan Westendorf (Auburn, Wash.) and Aaron Menzies (Manchester, England), giving Seattle U a 55-49 advantage with 5:31 remaining in regulation.
Joshua Braun went 5-for-5 from the free throw line to cut the Redhawk lead to one and then, after a layup by Westendorf, hit a three-pointer with 1:38 left to tie the game at 57-57. Each team had one possession each without scoring a point, and after Westendorf drove the length of the court but missed a shot, Chibuogwu rose up and tapped the ball in with four seconds remaining. Grand Canyon’s final desperation chance was off-target, ending the Antelopes’ 12-game winning streak and giving Seattle U its first-ever victory over Grand Canyon after five previous losses.
"I am very proud of how hard the guys competed in a tough environment. We knew it would be a battle from start to finish," Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said.
Westendorf once again led the Redhawks with 14 points, four assists, and three steals, plus he pulled down seven rebounds, while Powell finished with 10 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots, and two steals. Seattle U shot 45.5 percent (25-of-55) from the field and won the rebounding battle, 37-33.
Grand Canyon (19-3, 6-1 WAC) was led by Braun with 17 points, while Grandy Glaze notched a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, but only four of those points came after halftime. The Antelopes shot 37.3 percent (22-of-59) from the field, including 25 percent (6-of-24) after halftime, but they were a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line in the second half.
Seattle U is now alone in fourth place in the WAC standings with a 4-3 league mark, just two games behind co-leaders Grand Canyon and New Mexico State after the first half of the conference schedule. The Redhawks have won three games in a row for the first time since Feb. 18-28, 2015, and they have won three straight road games for the first time since a five-game road winning streak that spanned from Jan. 17 through Feb. 24, 2009.
Seattle University (10-11, 4-3 WAC) opens another three-game homestand and kicks off Homecoming weekend Thursday, Feb. 4, against Chicago State, followed by a home game at KeyArena against Missouri-Kansas City Saturday, Feb. 6. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start with tickets on sale through Ticketmaster or the KeyArena Box Office. The games will be broadcast live by the American Sports Network as well as on 770 AM KTTH.