Seattle University gave New Mexico State one of its toughest battles on its home floor this season, but the Aggies prevailed, 70-57, Saturday night in a Western Athletic Conference men’s collegiate basketball game at the Pan American Center.
Brendan Westendorf (Auburn, Wash.) led the Redhawks with 17 points, plus he pulled down eight rebounds, while Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) scored 13 points off the bench and Jack Crook (Manchester, England) added 12 points. Unlike the first meeting in Seattle, Seattle U was even with New Mexico State in the rebounding battle, pulling down 38 rebounds, including 15 offensive rebounds that led to 18 second chance points.
New Mexico State (20-9, 11-1 WAC) scored the first five points of the game on a three-pointer by Jalyn Pennie and a jumper by Pascal Siakam, but Seattle U came right back, scoring six unanswered points over a two-minute span. Later in the first half, Cohee capped a 6-0 run with a three-pointer, and then he hit another long distance shot to punctuate a 7-1 run that gave the Redhawks their biggest lead of the first half at 25-17.
Siakam scored five straight points, and Johnathon Wilkins hit two free throws as the Aggies cut their deficit to one with seven unanswered points. Westendorf ended the New Mexico State run with a jumper in the final minute to give Seattle U a 27-24 advantage at halftime.
The Aggies came out of the locker room strong, outscoring the Redhawks 14-2 over the first five minutes of the second half, starting with another three-pointer from Pennie and punctuated by a dunk from Siakam. After a basket by Aaron Menzies (Manchester, England), New Mexico State extended its lead to 12 thanks to a three-pointer by Braxton Huggins and a short jumper from Tanveer Bhullar.
The two teams traded baskets until the nine-minute mark of the second half, when Seattle U scored five straight points to cut the Aggie lead to seven. After Huggins hit a three-pointer to extend the NMSU lead back to double digits, Seattle U put together an 8-2 run, featuring three-pointers by Westendorf and Cohee, to close to within four at 52-48 with five minutes remaining in regulation.
The Aggies put the game away with a 11-2 scoring run over the next four minutes, and then went 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the final minute to prevent the Redhawks from coming any closer. New Mexico State scored 25 points off 19 Seattle U turnovers and went 25-for-31 from the free throw line as it won its 35th straight Western Athletic Conference home game.
Huggins hit three three-pointer and went 9-for-9 from the free throw line as he led the Aggies with 22 points, while Siakam finished with 15 points, 18 rebounds, four blocked shots, and four steals. As a team, New Mexico State shot 36.4 percent (20-of-55) from the field, including 5-of-20 from behind the three-point line.
Seattle University (12-14, 6-6 WAC) plays its final regular season home game next Saturday, Feb. 27, against Utah Valley starting at 7 p.m. at KeyArena. The game will be broadcast on 770 AM KTTH, with Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. providing the live play-by-play starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff. Tickets for next Saturday’s game are available through Ticketmaster and the KeyArena Box Office during normal business hours.