“You have to give Vermont credit, because they guarded us pretty defensively all night,” said head coach Cameron Dollar. “There’s a reason why they’ve been in eight postseasons in a row, winning 20 games seven times in a row, and you have to give them credit for what they were able to do. We never could get it going all night long and even got some good looks but even when we took the lead, we could never quite get over the hump.”
After Vermont built a seven-point lead three different times throughout the first five minutes of play, the Redhawks pulled within two, 17-15, on five straight free throws thanks three straight Vermont fouls.
William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) and Aaron Menzies (Manchester, England) hit back-to-back layups to bring Seattle U within two just before halftime but the Catamounts would lead by five, 27-22, at half.
The Redhawks exploded early in the second half as Jake Spurgeon (Lake Oswego, Ore.) hit an early three and SU would tie it for the first time, 34-all, on a 12-7 run, taking the lead on a pair of Brendan Westendorf (Auburn, Wash.) free throws.
Vermont regained the lead a minute later on back-to-back baskets and, after Powell hit a layup at 11:03 to bring SU within two, 42-40, would extend their lead out to double digits with 6:34 remaining.
Leaving the court for the final time, senior Jack Crook (Manchester, England) was awarded with a raucous standing ovation by the second straight sold out crowd at the Connolly Center. In his final appearance as a Redhawk, Crook scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, shooting 6-for-9 to lead SU at the line. Westendorf led the team with 16 points and four assists.
Vermont’s Kurt Steidl led all players on the floor with 17 points as the Catamounts shot 41.1 percent (23-for-56) from the field.
“This was supposed to be a rebuilding year after we lost three fifth-year guards last year and the majority of our scoring, but I thought guys developed throughout the year and will continue to improve and get better.”
Seattle U closes an exciting 2015-16 season in which they made their second straight postseason appearance and look forward to continued improvement in 2016-17.