He did it again ... at halftime to cut Seattle University’s deficit to four going into the locker room.
And then, after Utah Valley had caused the sixth tie of the second half, Brendan Westendorf (Auburn, Wash.) took the inbounds pass from William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.), dribbled up the court as far as he could, and launched a high-arching shot before the clock hit zero.
It went in. Again. Just as it had on Feb. 4 against Chicago State. With Westendorf’s buzzer-beating three-pointer, the Redhawks defeated the Wolverines, 72-69, Saturday night in a Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball game in front of a loud crowd celebrating Senior Night at KeyArena.
“We work on situations like that all the time in practice, so we do not feel the need to stop, call timeout, and go over it,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said. “It was neat to see how our guys reacted when they scored with five seconds remaining. They did not panic, they got space, the guy (Brendan) got the ball and made a play.”
Westendorf shot 9-of-18 from the field, including the three-pointers at the end of the first and second halves, to score a season-high 21 points, plus he earned four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Powell notched a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Jack Crook (Manchester, England), the lone senior currently active, contributed eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, two blocked shots, and a steal.
Utah Valley (12-16, 6-7 WAC) pulled out to a 36-22 lead with six minutes remaining in the first half on a steal and fast-break dunk by Konner Frey. Seattle U started its comeback with nine unanswered points over the next three-and-a-half minutes and then, after a dunk by Dayon Goodman, held the Wolverines scoreless for the final two minutes of the half, with Westendorf’s three-pointer at the end of the half cutting the Utah Valley lead to 38-34.
Seattle U opened the second half with a 9-2 scoring run over the first three minutes, punctuated by a three-pointer by Jake Spurgeon (Sherwood, Ore.) that gave the Redhawks their first lead of the game. However, Utah Valley fought back, scoring seven unanswered points, capped by a three-pointer by Cory Cardwell, to retake the lead at 47-43 six minutes into the second half.
The two teams went back-and-forth throughout the second half, as there were six ties and 13 lead changes after halftime. Ivory Young hit a three-pointer with 2:06 remaining in regulation to give the Wolverines a 65-63 advantage, but Westendorf hit a jumper to tie the game and, after a Redhawk defensive stop, Powell received a pass from Westendorf and made the basket to give Seattle U a 67-65 lead.
In the final minute, Frey was fouled, but made only one of the two free throws, keeping the Redhawks on top. Crook was fouled and made both of his free throws to increase the Seattle U lead to three, but Young made another three-pointer to cause the 69-69 tie. All that did was set up Westendorf’s heroics.
For the game, Seattle U shot 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the field, including 5-of-14 from behind the three-point line, and 81.8 percent (9-of-11) from the free throw line. The Redhawks won the rebounding battle, 37-31, and scored 16 points off 11 Wolverine turnovers.
Four players scored in double figures for Utah Valley, led by Frey and Young with 17 points apiece as they combined for nine of the Wolverines’ 14 made three-pointers. Marcel Davis contributed 14 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, and Goodman added 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.
With the victory, Seattle U clinches the third seed in the upcoming WAC Tournament and will face the sixth seed, either UT Rio Grande Valley or Missouri-Kansas City, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, in the first round of the tournament. The Redhawks snapped a three-game losing streak and matched their conference win total from last season with one game remaining.
“It’s (getting the third seed) huge for us, especially after we lost three fifth-year seniors from last year’s team. In a year where we are regrouping, to get right back to the spot where we were at, led by some unsung guys with some new guys stepping up and the team coming together, plus we withstood injuries, this is a group of fighters,” added Dollar.
Seattle University (13-14, 7-6 WAC) will conclude the regular season at CSU Bakersfield next Saturday, March 5, at 7 p.m. The game will be streamed on the WAC Digital Network, plus Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the game live from Bakersfield, Calif., on 770 AM KTTH, starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff.