SEATTLE – The last time Seattle University faced San Franciso in a West Coast Conference men’s basketball game was that last time it faced anyone in a WCC game … until Sunday night.
However, it wasn’t quite the “welcome back” that the Redhawks had in mind.
Will Heimbrodt recorded his first college double-double, scoring 14 points and grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds, and Brayden Maldonado also had 14 points, but Seattle U came up short of the San Francisco Dons in the conference opener for both schools inside Redhawk Center, 67-59.
Heimbrodt and Maldonado were the only double-digit scorers for Seattle U (11-3, 0-1 WCC), which had its six-game winning streak halted.
Seattle U was a member of what was then the West Coast Athletic Conference through the end of the 1979-80 season. Its final conference game was a 71-59 loss to the Dons on March 1, 1980, at War Memorial Gymnasium in San Francisco.
The teams played three times since then, but all were non-conference contests.
Sunday night’s game had nine lead changes and two ties, all during the first half, which ended with USF (9-5, 1-0 WCC) clinging to a 32-30 lead.
The Dons stretched it to 10 at 46-36 with 13:14 left and twice extended it to as many as 11 points, the last time at 56-45 at the 4:55 mark.
Seattle U (11-3, 0-1 WCC) responded with a 9-0 run to get right back into the game. Maldonado got things started with a traditional three-point play. Heimbrodt went for a driving lay-in, cutting the margin to 56-50. An offensive foul on USF turned the ball back over to the Redhawks, and Austin Maurer subsequently drained a pair of free throws for 56-52.
Junseok Yeo broke underneath and Maldonado found him for an easy lay-in, bringing SU within two at 56-54 and 2:15 still on the clock.
But the Dons put up the next four points, part of a 7-2 run that returned it to a three-possession margin at 63-56 with just 30.4 seconds remaining.
The teams traded first-half scoring bursts. San Francisco tallied nine straight to turn a 7-6 deficit into a 15-7 lead. From there, the Redhawks responded with a 17-8 surge to go in front, 24-23.
By the Numbers
--Normally a solid-shooting team (exactly 50 percent for the season coming into Sunday), baskets were hard to come by on Sunday. Seattle U hit just 27.4 percent (20-of-73) and 17.4 percent (4-of-19) behind the arc.
-- The Dons also had frosty stretches, hitting 35.7 (20-of-56) and 30.8 percent (8-of-26) downtown.
--Maldonado continued his superior shooting at the free-throw line. The senior guard was 3-for-3 and now has hit his last 29 in a row. Coupled with a season-opening string of 21 straight with just one miss in between, he is now at .980 for the year (50-of-51).
--The previous career-high rebounding game for redshirt sophomore forward Heimbrodt was eight on Nov. 3 at home in the season opener against Denver.
--Heimbrodt also has three more blocked shots, giving him 37 for the season. The Redhawks, who came in averaging a WCC-leading 5.31 blocks per game, had seven, giving them 76 for the season.
--SU turned the ball over a season-low five times. The previous low was nine (three times).
--Ryan Beasley and David Fuchs had 13 points apiece for San Francisco.
Up Next
The Redhawks continue West Coast Conference play on Tuesday, this time at Climate Pledge Arena when they host Washington State. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+.
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