ST. GEORGE, Utah – Back in action for the first time in exactly three weeks, Seattle U men's basketball led for much of the way at Dixie State Friday night in a thrilling Western Athletic Conference match-up. But a late Trailblazer surge, and a key three-point play in the waning seconds propelled Dixie State to the 77-76 win at the Burns Arena in St. George, Utah.
Seattle U (7-7, 0-2 WAC) led 73-72 following a Kobe Williams putback layup with 33 seconds remaining. But at the other end of the court, Dixie State's Cameron Gooden would answer with his lone field goal of the night - an and-1 layup that put the home team ahead by two with 15 ticks to go.
Out of a timeout, Darrion Trammell had two attempts fail to fall and the Redhawks were forced to foul. After a pair of Trailblazer free throws made it a four-point game, Trammell heaved a long three at the buzzer that would bank in for the final score.
Trammell finished with a game-high 30 points, his second 30-point game of the season, to go along with six assists and five boards. Aaron Nettles added 20 points, including six threes, which matches a single-game record for the senior.
Dixie State (6-8, 2-5 WAC) was paced by Jarod Greene with 16 points as five total Trailblazers scored in double figures.
"What tremendous fight by our guys tonight," said Head Coach Jim Hayford. "Our back court was amazing, with 50 of our 76 points coming from those two guys. I'm proud of my freshman, Kobe, finishing with 15 boards. Emeka had 12 boards."
My staff did such a great job preparing for tonight," Hayford continued. "With Golden and the way we wanted to guard him, we made one mistake and that was the only basket he made all night. Credit him, he's an experienced player and he made that play when it mattered."
The Redhawks won the tip and scored first on a Trammell layup. They would extend the lead in the first half to as many as nine as Nettles drained back-to-back threes to make it 18-9 early.
Dixie State would slowly work its way level and the teams found themselves knotted at 31-all with a minute remaining in the frame.
Joe Wall would the Seattle U a spark off the bench to end the half, hitting a corner three at the buzzer to send the Redhawks into the break leading 34-31.
The momentum carried into the second half as the Redhawks used a 13-0 run to open up a 49-35 advantage just three minutes into the frame.
Seattle U remained in control and four straight points by Trammell made it 59-47 with 11:47 to go.
But then came 10 straight Trailblazer points, making in a one-possession game with just under 10 minutes to play. Neither team would lead by more than four the rest of the night.
Down one inside two minutes, Trammell made a tough layup through traffic before DSU's Jacob Nicolds answered with two free throws. That would set up Williamson's putback bucket off a Trammell miss, followed by Gooden's three-point play for the Trailblazers.
"You have to understand the process and stay with the process," said Hayford postgame. "What the process tells be tonight is I have an amazing point guard, my veteran two-guard showed up and had a great game, my freshman big man had 15 rebounds and Emeka threw all his heart into it in the second half and finished with 12 boards. We did some really, really good things and all without our first-team all-conference player in Riley."
Grigsby was sidelined for the first time this season due to injury. The junior forward entered the week leading the WAC in scoring at 18.7 points per game.
The Redhawks and Trailblazers rematch on Saturday with another 7 p.m. Mountain Time tip off. The game will stream live on the WAC Digital Network and can be heard in Seattle on KTTH 770 AM or mynorthwest.com.
Seattle U (7-7, 0-2 WAC) led 73-72 following a Kobe Williams putback layup with 33 seconds remaining. But at the other end of the court, Dixie State's Cameron Gooden would answer with his lone field goal of the night - an and-1 layup that put the home team ahead by two with 15 ticks to go.
Out of a timeout, Darrion Trammell had two attempts fail to fall and the Redhawks were forced to foul. After a pair of Trailblazer free throws made it a four-point game, Trammell heaved a long three at the buzzer that would bank in for the final score.
Trammell finished with a game-high 30 points, his second 30-point game of the season, to go along with six assists and five boards. Aaron Nettles added 20 points, including six threes, which matches a single-game record for the senior.
Dixie State (6-8, 2-5 WAC) was paced by Jarod Greene with 16 points as five total Trailblazers scored in double figures.
"What tremendous fight by our guys tonight," said Head Coach Jim Hayford. "Our back court was amazing, with 50 of our 76 points coming from those two guys. I'm proud of my freshman, Kobe, finishing with 15 boards. Emeka had 12 boards."
My staff did such a great job preparing for tonight," Hayford continued. "With Golden and the way we wanted to guard him, we made one mistake and that was the only basket he made all night. Credit him, he's an experienced player and he made that play when it mattered."
The Redhawks won the tip and scored first on a Trammell layup. They would extend the lead in the first half to as many as nine as Nettles drained back-to-back threes to make it 18-9 early.
Dixie State would slowly work its way level and the teams found themselves knotted at 31-all with a minute remaining in the frame.
Joe Wall would the Seattle U a spark off the bench to end the half, hitting a corner three at the buzzer to send the Redhawks into the break leading 34-31.
The momentum carried into the second half as the Redhawks used a 13-0 run to open up a 49-35 advantage just three minutes into the frame.
Seattle U remained in control and four straight points by Trammell made it 59-47 with 11:47 to go.
But then came 10 straight Trailblazer points, making in a one-possession game with just under 10 minutes to play. Neither team would lead by more than four the rest of the night.
Down one inside two minutes, Trammell made a tough layup through traffic before DSU's Jacob Nicolds answered with two free throws. That would set up Williamson's putback bucket off a Trammell miss, followed by Gooden's three-point play for the Trailblazers.
"You have to understand the process and stay with the process," said Hayford postgame. "What the process tells be tonight is I have an amazing point guard, my veteran two-guard showed up and had a great game, my freshman big man had 15 rebounds and Emeka threw all his heart into it in the second half and finished with 12 boards. We did some really, really good things and all without our first-team all-conference player in Riley."
Grigsby was sidelined for the first time this season due to injury. The junior forward entered the week leading the WAC in scoring at 18.7 points per game.
The Redhawks and Trailblazers rematch on Saturday with another 7 p.m. Mountain Time tip off. The game will stream live on the WAC Digital Network and can be heard in Seattle on KTTH 770 AM or mynorthwest.com.
Postgame comments from @CoachHayford following tonight's battle at Dixie State: https://t.co/YljO6gg25L
— Seattle U Men's Basketball (@seattleumbb) February 6, 2021