SEATTLE – On Senior Night in the Redhawk Center, Seattle University men's basketball rallied from 18 down to within one point, but visiting Grand Canyon would hold on and send the Redhawks to a 63-60 defeat.
A rare off shooting night at home, the Redhawks trailed the Lopes 37-23 at the break and would find themselves in a 41-23 hole a minute into the second half. But the battle back ensued as a 12-2 Redhawk run cut it to eight, 43-35, as a Matthew-Alexander block followed by a fast break layup forced a GCU called timeout.
The Redhawk continued to chip away and four straight Moncrieffe free throws cut the GCU lead to five, 44-39, with 14:01 to play.
The Lopes briefly pushed the spread back to double figures, but Seattle U used its defense and free-throw shooting to whittle the spread back down again.
Trailing by seven with 2:47 remaining, Brayden Maldonado buried a huge three. Both sides would go scoreless for nearly two minutes until Paris Dawson hit one of two free throws with 51 seconds remaining.
GCU's Colin Moore made a three with 26 second remaining to push the Lopes' lead to six, 61-55. Maleek Arington muscled his way to a bucket and-one and Dawson made it a one-point game, 61-60, with a layup following a GCU five-second call.
Forced to foul with nine seconds remaining, the Redhawks sent Makaiah Williams to the line. The GCU guard hit both shots and Arington's potential game-tying three at the buzzer would not fall.
Moncrieffe and Dawson finished with 16 points apiece to lead the Redhawks, while Maldonado added 12.
GCU was paced by Duke Brennan's 18 points and 12 rebounds. JaKobe Coles added 13 pints and 12 boards as the Lopes held a 46-31 advantage on the boards.
The game was the final at home for Seattle U's senior class of Dawson, Moncrieffe, Vasja Pandža, Viktor Rajkovic and Williamson.
Seattle U closes out the regular season on the road next week traveling to Southern Utah and Utah Tech. First up is a meeting with the Thunderbirds in Cedar City, Utah on Thursday, Mar. 6. Tip off from America First Event Center is 6:30 p.m. MT, 5:30 p.m. PT. The regular season concludes Saturday, March 8 in St. George as the Redhawks face the Trailblazers at 7 p.m. MT, 6 p.m. PT at Burns Arena.
Donate Today
Fans interested in making a gift to Seattle University Athletics can do so by clicking here. Your gift directly impacts all Redhawk student athletes as they strive for excellence in the classroom, in competition, and in the community. Thank you for supporting Seattle University Athletics!
Follow Along With the Action
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.