RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Seattle U men's basketball used a late surge to battle back from a 15-point deficit and pull within one of California Baptist Saturday night at the CBU Events Center. But the Redhawks would ultimately settle for a split in the series as they could not get over the hump in a 79-76 decision to close out Western Athletic Conference play.
The Redhawks wrap up the regular season 11-10 overall and 4-5 in the WAC and will enter next week's WAC Tournament as the fifth seed. They will face the fourth seeded Lancers (13-9, 6-6 WAC) in the tournament opener Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Darrion Trammell led Seattle U for a second straight night, finishing with 26 points, including a perfect 15-of-15 from the charity stripe. Riley Grigsby added 25 points, including four threes, and Emeka Udenyi collected his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 12 boards.
The Redhawks struggled offensively throughout, while the Lancers enjoyed a hot shooting night, shooting nearly 54 percent from the field. Seattle U led out of the gates, 7-4, but the Lancers quickly erased that with a 10-0 run.
CBU pushed the lead into double digits, 25-15, with 6:23 remaining in the first half. Seattle U would respond with a pair of threes from Grigsby and a two-point jumper from Trammell. But the Lancers would close out the half hitting 6-of-7 field goals and outscoring the Redhawks 14-5 to take a 39-28 lead into the break.
The home team did not let up in the second half as they pushed the lead to 15, 47-32, with 16:19 won the clock. A 7-0 Seattle U spurt cut the spread back down to eight before a Tre Armstrong three put CBU back up in double digits.
Back-to-back threes from Grigsby and Williamson made it 50-45 Lancers with 12:46 remaining. Trailing by 10, 59-49, with 10:42 to play, Trammell scored six straight points and Grigsby added an and-1.
CBU would work its lead back up to nine, 73-64, before the Redhawks made one final surge over the final 1:25. Back to a single possession game, 79-76, in the waning seconds, Grigsby missed the front end of a double bonus situation, before intentionally missing the second.
The Redhawks would earn the deadfall rebound out of bounds and a chance to run one final play with 0.6 seconds remaining, but the inbounds pass was picked off by CBU.
"What a tough battle tonight," said Head Coach Jim Hayford. "These second nights you have one team come back disappointed from a loss and you have another team happy with a win, and CBU had that edge tonight. Credit the CBU players that they had the character to answer the opening bell, and credit our guys for the character they showed when their back was against the wall to fight back and make it a great college basketball game. We fought til the very last second on the clock and now we get to play them again on Thursday."
Thursday's WAC Tournament quarterfinal game will stream live on ESPN+ in the U.S. and on the WAC Digital Network internationally. It can also be heard on KTTH 770 AM and mynorthwest.com.
The Redhawks wrap up the regular season 11-10 overall and 4-5 in the WAC and will enter next week's WAC Tournament as the fifth seed. They will face the fourth seeded Lancers (13-9, 6-6 WAC) in the tournament opener Thursday at 4:30 p.m.
Darrion Trammell led Seattle U for a second straight night, finishing with 26 points, including a perfect 15-of-15 from the charity stripe. Riley Grigsby added 25 points, including four threes, and Emeka Udenyi collected his fourth double-double of the year with 10 points and 12 boards.
The Redhawks struggled offensively throughout, while the Lancers enjoyed a hot shooting night, shooting nearly 54 percent from the field. Seattle U led out of the gates, 7-4, but the Lancers quickly erased that with a 10-0 run.
CBU pushed the lead into double digits, 25-15, with 6:23 remaining in the first half. Seattle U would respond with a pair of threes from Grigsby and a two-point jumper from Trammell. But the Lancers would close out the half hitting 6-of-7 field goals and outscoring the Redhawks 14-5 to take a 39-28 lead into the break.
The home team did not let up in the second half as they pushed the lead to 15, 47-32, with 16:19 won the clock. A 7-0 Seattle U spurt cut the spread back down to eight before a Tre Armstrong three put CBU back up in double digits.
Back-to-back threes from Grigsby and Williamson made it 50-45 Lancers with 12:46 remaining. Trailing by 10, 59-49, with 10:42 to play, Trammell scored six straight points and Grigsby added an and-1.
CBU would work its lead back up to nine, 73-64, before the Redhawks made one final surge over the final 1:25. Back to a single possession game, 79-76, in the waning seconds, Grigsby missed the front end of a double bonus situation, before intentionally missing the second.
The Redhawks would earn the deadfall rebound out of bounds and a chance to run one final play with 0.6 seconds remaining, but the inbounds pass was picked off by CBU.
"What a tough battle tonight," said Head Coach Jim Hayford. "These second nights you have one team come back disappointed from a loss and you have another team happy with a win, and CBU had that edge tonight. Credit the CBU players that they had the character to answer the opening bell, and credit our guys for the character they showed when their back was against the wall to fight back and make it a great college basketball game. We fought til the very last second on the clock and now we get to play them again on Thursday."
Thursday's WAC Tournament quarterfinal game will stream live on ESPN+ in the U.S. and on the WAC Digital Network internationally. It can also be heard on KTTH 770 AM and mynorthwest.com.
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