Junior Brendan Westendorf (Auburn, Wash.) hit the game-tying three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining in regulation and then, after a Seattle University defensive stop, banked in the game-winning shot from 41 feet away to give the Redhawks a 59-56 victory over the Chicago State Cougars Thursday night in a Western Athletic Conference men’s collegiate basketball game at KeyArena. The shot earned the No. 6 spot on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10. Watch it now.
Seattle U held a five-point lead halfway through the second half, but Chicago State put together a 9-2 scoring run, including three-pointers by Elliott Cole and Clemmye Owens V, over the next five minutes to pull ahead, 50-48. Back-to-back baskets by Devon Friend gave the Cougars a four-point lead at 54-50 with 2:36 remaining in regulation as the Redhawks were held without a field goal for a span of seven minutes.
After Trayvon Palmer hit a layup with 36 seconds left to extend the Cougar lead back to three at 56-53, Zack Moore (Bellevue, Wash.) found Westendorf for a three-pointer that tied the game at 56-56. Fred Sims Jr. took a contested three-point shot on Chicago State’s next possession, and Westendorf pulled down the rebound, rushed up the court, and threw up a shot just as he passed the halfcourt line, banking in the three-pointer to give the Redhawks their fourth straight victory.
“First, credit goes to Chicago State for making the game exactly how they wanted it played: a slow, herky-jerky slugfest. We had our hands full tonight, and they are going to get some wins, but we are fortunate that, in the end, they did not get us. We could have executed better, but we made our free throws, hung in there, got a big stop at the end, and got the game-winning shot,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said.
Westendorf hit four three-pointers as he led the Redhawks with 12 points, plus he pulled down six rebounds and dished out three assists. William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) went 7-for-9 from the free throw line as he finished with 11 points and six rebounds, while Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) contributed 10 points off the bench for the Redhawks.
Chicago State (4-21, 0-8 WAC) stayed closed early in the game, going on a 9-2 scoring run over a three-minute span, led by Palmer with six points, to take a 13-10 lead. Seattle U responded, scoring 15 unanswered points over the next five minutes, led by Cohee with eight of those points, to take its biggest lead of the night at 25-13 with just under three minutes to go in the first half.
Palmer and Friend combined for Chicago State’s final nine points of the first half to close the Redhawk lead to 30-22 at halftime. With the Cougars down by seven four minutes into the second half, Sims made back-to-back baskets, followed by a jumper by Friend that brought Chicago State to within one at 34-33.
After Cole hit consecutive three-pointers to put Chicago State on top, 41-39, Aaron Menzies (Manchester, England) made a layup to tie the game, Moore hit a three-pointer and Jack Shaughnessy (Woodstock, Ga.) followed with a layup one minute later to give the Redhawks a 46-41 advantage.
Palmer led the Cougars with 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals, while Cole hit four three-pointers off the bench as he scored 14 points and Friend contributed 12 points and six rebounds. For the game, Chicago State shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field, including 7-of-19 from behind the three-point line, and 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the free throw line.
Seattle U shot 34.0 percent (18-of-53) from the field, including 9-of-30 from behind the three-point line, and 82.4 percent (14-of-17) from the free throw line. The Redhawks won the rebounding battle, 41-36, on the way to their first four-game winning streak in conference play since joining the WAC in 2012.
Seattle University (11-11, 5-3 WAC) hosts Missouri-Kansas City Saturday, Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. at KeyArena in the annual Homecoming game. The game will be broadcast by the American Sports Network as well as by 770 AM KTTH. Tickets for all remaining Seattle U home games are on sale through Ticketmaster or the KeyArena Box Office during normal business hours.