ST. GEORGE, Utah – Seattle U men's basketball played senior day spoilers on Saturday night at Dixie State, downing the Trailblazers, 73-65, at Burns Arena.
The Redhawks snapped a two-game skid and, coupled with other results around the league, moved into sole possession of second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings at 13-4. They also improve to 22-8 on the season.
"This was a big time team performance," said Interim Head Coach Chris Victor. "A lot of different guys made a lot of winning plays tonight. Dixie State has been playing really well at home, they are an extremely well-coached team, and they are very, very hard to beat here. To finish the road trip this way, to play that good of a second half, was big time for us."
Following yet another half of struggling offensively, the Redhawks broke out of the slump in a big way in the second, shooting better than 58 percent on their way to a 45-point period.
Trailing by one, 29-28, Emeka Udenyi scored back-to-back buckets to open the second. Cameron Gooden hit one of two free throws for the Trailblazers, but the Redhawks continued, draining back-to-back threes from Cameron Tyson and Kobe Williamson to lead 38-30 and force a DSU timeout.
Dixie State would close the gap to two, 57-55, with 5:13 remaining, but led by Darrion Trammell, Udenyi, Tyson and Riley Grigsby, Seattle U pushed the lead to a game-high 10, 71-61, with just over a minute to play before settling for the eight-point victory.
Trammell led a balanced Seattle U attack, finishing with 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. Grigsby added 11 points, while Udenyi and Tyson had 10 apiece. Viktor Rajković and Vasja Pandža chipped in eight apiece.
Gooden paced Dixie State with 15 points. Isaiah Pope and Hunter Schofield added 14 points each.
Defense reigned in the first half as both teams shot under 30 percent in a back-and-forth battle. The Redhawks went 8-for-31 from the field and just 2-of-11 from deep, but used a strong 10-of-12 effort from the charity stripe to stay in the fight against the Trailblazers.
Seattle U would hold DSU to just 9-of-31 from the field and neither team would lead by more than six throughout the period. Trailing, 23-17 with 5:09 remaining in the frame, the Redhawks would go on an 11-0 run to lead 28-23. Dixie State would then close out the half on a 6-0 spurt and hold a narrow 29-28 lead at the break.
Seattle U concludes the regular season at home on Saturday, March 5, hosting Chicago State for Senior Day. Aaron Nettles and Matt Vail will be honored prior to the 1 p.m. tip-off at the Redhawk Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard on the airwaves on KXSU 102.1 FM in Seattle and kxsu.org. Tickets are available online at goseattleu.com/tix or by calling the box office at 206-398-GOSU.
The Redhawks snapped a two-game skid and, coupled with other results around the league, moved into sole possession of second place in the Western Athletic Conference standings at 13-4. They also improve to 22-8 on the season.
"This was a big time team performance," said Interim Head Coach Chris Victor. "A lot of different guys made a lot of winning plays tonight. Dixie State has been playing really well at home, they are an extremely well-coached team, and they are very, very hard to beat here. To finish the road trip this way, to play that good of a second half, was big time for us."
Following yet another half of struggling offensively, the Redhawks broke out of the slump in a big way in the second, shooting better than 58 percent on their way to a 45-point period.
Trailing by one, 29-28, Emeka Udenyi scored back-to-back buckets to open the second. Cameron Gooden hit one of two free throws for the Trailblazers, but the Redhawks continued, draining back-to-back threes from Cameron Tyson and Kobe Williamson to lead 38-30 and force a DSU timeout.
Dixie State would close the gap to two, 57-55, with 5:13 remaining, but led by Darrion Trammell, Udenyi, Tyson and Riley Grigsby, Seattle U pushed the lead to a game-high 10, 71-61, with just over a minute to play before settling for the eight-point victory.
Trammell led a balanced Seattle U attack, finishing with 16 points, seven assists, four rebounds and four steals. Grigsby added 11 points, while Udenyi and Tyson had 10 apiece. Viktor Rajković and Vasja Pandža chipped in eight apiece.
Gooden paced Dixie State with 15 points. Isaiah Pope and Hunter Schofield added 14 points each.
Defense reigned in the first half as both teams shot under 30 percent in a back-and-forth battle. The Redhawks went 8-for-31 from the field and just 2-of-11 from deep, but used a strong 10-of-12 effort from the charity stripe to stay in the fight against the Trailblazers.
Seattle U would hold DSU to just 9-of-31 from the field and neither team would lead by more than six throughout the period. Trailing, 23-17 with 5:09 remaining in the frame, the Redhawks would go on an 11-0 run to lead 28-23. Dixie State would then close out the half on a 6-0 spurt and hold a narrow 29-28 lead at the break.
Seattle U concludes the regular season at home on Saturday, March 5, hosting Chicago State for Senior Day. Aaron Nettles and Matt Vail will be honored prior to the 1 p.m. tip-off at the Redhawk Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard on the airwaves on KXSU 102.1 FM in Seattle and kxsu.org. Tickets are available online at goseattleu.com/tix or by calling the box office at 206-398-GOSU.
Stay connected with Seattle U men's basketball and get all the latest team updates by downloading the GoSeattleU mobile app available now for free in the App Store or Google Play.