SEATTLE – In a rivalry series that rarely disappoints, Seattle U men's basketball's Friday night match-up against Utah Valley added another thrilling chapter as the Redhawks came up with a huge defensive stand on the final possession to hang on for a 62-61 Western Athletic Conference win.
The win was Seattle U's 11th straight this season at the Redhawk Center, moving the squad to 12-8 overall and 5-4 in WAC play. It also evened the all time series with UVU at 14-14and avenged a November loss to the Wolverines in Orem.
Cameron Tyson led all scorers with 16 points while Alex Schumacher added 15. Brandton Chatfield tallied a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double and Kobe Williamson came up one point shy of a double-double of his own, finishing with nine points and 11 boards. The two big men combined for eight of Seattle U's 17 offensive rebounds. UVU finished with just five o-boards and the Redhawks won the overall battle of the boards, 43-30.
A 6-for-6 first-half performance from the field from Schumacher helped Seattle U lead by as many as nine and carry a 40-34 lead into the break. But the Redhawks struggled to find their mark in the second, managing just six field goals, including 0-of-13 from three.
A 10-for-12 performance from the free-throw line was key in the frame, while the Redhawk defense held UVU to just 1-of-8 to close out the game.
"We talked to our guys about being able to win a game with it being ugly," said Head Coach Chris Victor. "We were really bad on offense, we couldn't make a shot, we had some really bad turnovers. And there was a time in the second half when we started to play individual basketball a little bit, which isn't us. But I'm really proud of the team for staying together down the stretch. They dug in on defense, showed their toughness and showed how together they are as a team. Our defense and our rebounding won it for us tonight."
Trailing 61-60 inside a minute to play, Chatfield grabbed a huge offensive board off of a missed Paris Dawson three, then dished back out to a streaking Dawson who drew a foul and a trip to the charity stripe. He knocked down both attempts and following two called timeouts, the Redhawks turned away UVU's final attempt at the buzzer.
Seattle U returns to the road next week, beginning with a second meeting with Grand Canyon in less than two weeks. Tip off from Global Credit Union Arena in Phoenix is 7 p.m. Mountain time, 6 p.m. Pacific.
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