Balanced Attack Put Redhawks Back in the Win Column

SEATTLE – Early scoring run. Late scoring run. No matter when they happened, Junseok Yeo had a big hand in both of them.

Yeo poured in 18 points, one of four players in double figures, and Seattle University men's basketball got back into the West Coast Conference win column on Thursday night by downing the University of San Diego inside the Redhawk Center, 75-64.

Braydon Maldonado added 16 points for Seattle U (13-6, 2-4 WCC), which halted a three-game skid. John Christofilis chipped in 11 off the bench, and Will Heimbrodt had 10 plus five rebounds and two more blocked shots.

On two occasions, the Redhawks were clinging to a one-point lead when they went on big surges and extended it to double-digits.

Up 11-10 in the first half, Seattle U put 14 straight points on the board, making it 25-10. Yeo had five of those, including a 3-pointer from the right corner to cap it. Christofilis also buried five in the run.

Then up 57-56 with 6:43 still on the clock, the Redhawks rang up nine straight as part of a game-clinching 18-8 scoring spree. Yeo accounted for seven of those 18, the first five of which came on the heels of Torero turnovers: a lay-in off a feed from Heimbrodt to make it 61-56, and a 3-pointer off a feed from Maldonado for 64-56.

A runner by Jojo Murphy on a second-chance opportunity pushed it back up to 10 at 66-56 with 4:13 to play. That was still plenty of time for San Diego (7-12, 2-5 WCC) to make another run at it, but the margin never got closer than eight.

During their 14-0 first-half run, the Redhawks kept the Toreros off the scoreboard for nearly seven minutes.

Among the Redhawks’ 14 straight points was a 3-pointer by Christofilis after the defense came up with three stops on the same possession at the other end – the last of which was a blocked shot by Houran Dan.

Seattle U’s defense forced USD into 11 straight misses from the field while building the 15-point lead.

The Toreros finished the half by scoring six of the final eight points to get within single digits by the break, 33-24.

San Diego tallied five points at the outset of the second half before the Redhawks even got the ball into frontcourt, coming within 33-29. The Toreros edged in front briefly at 47-46 with 11:30 to go.

SU responded with nine of the net 11 points, going up 55-49 and stayed in front the rest of the way.

By the Numbers

--The Redhawks shot 48.1 percent from the field, hitting 25-of-52, and were a solid 40 percent from downtown at 8-of-20.

--SU’s defense limited the Toreros to 38.3 percent (23-of-60), including just 31 percent (9-of-29) during the first half.

--Brock Felder was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field, with three dunks.

--Austin Maurer grabbed a team-high seven of Seattle U’s 33 rebounds.

--Maleek Arington handed out five assists.

--Ty-Lau Johnson led San Diego with 18 points.

Up Next
The Redhawks play the middle game of a three-game homestand on Saturday when they host No. 9-ranked Gonzaga at Climate Pledge Arena. Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN+. The teams have met once this season, with the Bulldogs pulling out an 80-72 victory in overtime on Jan. 2 in Spokane.