SEATTLE – The Seattle University Redhawks pulled back into the game and pulled ahead, but ultimately fell just short of pulling off an upset on Wednesday night.
Junseok Yeo scored 20 points and Will Heimbrodt added 14 for Seattle U before Saint Mary’s escaped with a 72-70 West Coast Conference men’s basketball victory inside Climate Pledge Arena.
Seattle U (16-12, 5-10 WCC) gave the Gaels (24-4,13-2 WCC) – who received votes in this week’s national rankings – all they could handle in the second half.
Down by as many as 14 points early on, the Redhawks came out firing after halftime, hitting their first six shots and getting back within three.
The lead changed hands eight times inside the final 10 minutes. With the score tied at 65-65, Heimbrodt came up with back-to-back blocked, the second of which was corralled by Maleek Arington with 1:56 to go. He was fouled and hit both free throws for a 67-65 edge.
Saint Mary’s put the next four points on the board to go up 69-67 with 1:06 left. Yeo hit the second of two free throws, cutting it to 69-68 at 53.9 seconds.
The Redhawks got a stop, brought the ball into front court and called their final timeout with 25.9 seconds remaining and 23 on the shot clock. But the Gaels came up with a steal and Joshua Dent subsequently hit two free throws with 15.1 seconds left for a 71-68 lead.
Heimbrodt drove for an uncontested lay-in with 10 seconds remaining to make it 71-70. Forced to foul, they put Dent back on the line with 5.2 seconds to go. He hit the first, but missed the second.
Houran Dan rebounded for the Redhawks, and Murphy got a clear look from about 30 feet away with time running down. His desperation shot had the distance, but bounced off the back of the rim at the horn.
Murphy finished with 10 points for SUeattle U which was without leading scorer Brayden Maldonado, out with an injury.
The Gaels ran off 14 straight points early in the first half to take a 16-4 lead as SU went cold from the field with nine straight missed shots.
The Redhawks were still down by 11 at 33-22 with 3:02 left in the half. But they then scored six of the final eight points to get back within seven at the break, 35-28.
All of that advantage for Saint Mary’s came at the free-throw line on 13-of-15 shooting. Seattle U, which matched the Gaels with 10 field goals and had two more makes from downtown, was 4-of-8 at the line through the first 20 minutes.
By the Numbers
--The Redhawks shot a blistering 57.7 percent during the second half (15-of-26) and finished the game at 45.5 percent (25-of-55).
--They wound up with one more field goal than Saint Mary’s, which hit 24-of-54 (44.4 percent).
--The Gaels wound up 21-of-27 at the foul line. The Redhawks were 15-of-22.
--Murphy, Dan and Austin Maurer each had five rebounds.
--Heimbrodt’s two blocks put him at 84 for his career. He came into the game tied for No. 5 on SU’s all-time list. He has 65 for the season. The single-season record is 79.
--Lewis tallied 22 points for Saint Mary’s.
Up Next
Seattle U closes out its home schedule on Saturday against Portland at Redhawk Center at 7:00 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN+. Prior to tip-off, Seattle U will honor seniors Maleek Arington, John Christofilis, Brayden Maldonado and Jojo Murphy.
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 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.