UAPB Men’s Basketball Wins Close Game at Seattle U.

SEATTLE, Washington -- Seattle University held the advantage for most of its season opener, but Arkansas Pine Bluff was able to come back and defeat the Redhawks in the 2015 Elgin Baylor Classic, 58-56, Friday night in a men’s collegiate basketball game at KeyArena at Seattle Center.

Jack Crook (Manchester, England) led the Redhawks in scoring with 11 points, plus he pulled down eight rebounds, while William Powell (Huntsville, Ala.) finished with 10 points and nine rebounds. In his first game with Seattle U, Brendan Westendorf (Kent, Wash.) collected nine points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and two steals.

Arkansas Pine-Bluff (1-0) took the early lead in the first half, but Seattle U responded with a 13-0 scoring run, capped by a three-pointer from Jack Shaughnessy (Woodstock, Ga.). The Golden Lions closed their deficit to four later in the half with a 7-1 scoring run, featuring back-to-back baskets by Marquis Cunningham, but the Redhawks outscored their opponents 9-2 over the next two minutes, with Powell beginning and ending the run with layups.

Another 7-1 scoring run allowed Arkansas-Pine Bluff to cut the Redhawk lead to five at halftime at 33-28, and then a three-pointer by Ghiavonni Robinson and a layup by Deshon Bayless tied the game at 33-33 five minutes into the second half. Seattle U retook the lead with an 8-1 scoring run, thanks in part to three-pointers by Westendorf and Manroop Clair (Vancouver, B.C.).

Down 43-37 with 11:30 remaining in the second half, Arkansas-Pine Bluff scored 10 unanswered points over the next four minutes, including three-pointers by Bayless and JoVaughn Love. The Redhawks retook the lead on a three-pointer by Jadon Cohee (Langley, B.C.) and five points from Shaughnessy.

After a jumper by Crook with two minutes to go increased the Seattle U lead to 56-53, Love made two free throws, followed by a jumper with 28 seconds left in regulation to put the Golden Lions back on top. The Redhawks had a couple of chances to win the game, but could not convert, and Love made one more free throw to establish the final margin.

“It would have been nice to finish tonight, especially when you feel like you had control the whole way through. We had a chance to spread it out in the first half, but we committed some turnovers that gave them easy baskets. We fixed the turnover problem in the second half, but just could not make field goals or free throws, and we had our opportunities to score,” Seattle U head coach Cameron Dollar said.

Love led the Golden Lions with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Bayless contributed 10 points and eight rebounds. Neither team shot the ball from the field particularly well, hitting less than 40 percent of their field goal attempts, and the Redhawks enjoyed a slight rebounding edge, 41-37.

Seattle University (0-1) will face Sacramento State Sunday, Nov. 15, starting at 2 p.m. at KeyArena. Dave Grosby and Gary Hill Jr. will broadcast the game on 770 AM KTTH, starting with the pregame show shortly before tipoff. Tickets for Sunday’s game as well as all Seattle U home games at KeyArena are available through Ticketmaster.

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COURTESY SEATTLE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS