KeyArena felt different. It seemed tenser, more stoic. Seattle University men’s basketball team was up against New Mexico State, the undefeated team in the Western Athletic Conference men’s basketball standings. It was a tough battle and the Redhawks did pose a challenge to the Aggies, but lost 56-71.

“We definitely came in there trying to end their streak,” said Morgan Means, guard for the Seattle U men’s basketball team. “Definitely we go into every game trying to prepare for every team so it wasn’t like we don’t do it with other teams, but we definitely wanted to get amped up for this game.”

The Aggies started with the ball and scored their first field goal within the third minute of the game. Two minutes later, senior Brendan Westendorf, scored the first field goal for the team.

The first five minutes of the game were intense, it almost seemed like a game of tennis, with both teams in possession of the ball every other second, they moved across the court in quick succession.

Within these five minutes, the Redhawks and the Aggies each took six field goal attempts.

With three minutes remaining in the first half, the Redhawks needed 13 points to catch up to the Aggies, 27-14. With each passing minute, the Aggies were leaving the Redhawks behind.

By halftime, The Redhawks were down 11 points, 31-20, making it a tough challenge for them to come back.

“We hung in there,” Seattle University men’s basketball coach Cameron Dollar said. “Sometimes you can have a dismal first half like that, especially at home and quit and we didn’t. We stayed with it and kept fight.”

Dollar was right. With about 15 minutes remaining in the game, the Redhawks were down by nine points, closer to the Aggies than they were at halftime. About three minutes later, the Redhawks were down by eight points, closing the gap between the Aggies. Finally, with seven minutes and 38 seconds remaining in the game, the Redhawks were 5 points below the Aggies, the closest they were the entire game.

Last season, the Redhawks also had a difficult time beating the Aggies, losing 68-60, and 70-57.

“We knew they were going to come in here. We just couldn’t execute at the level we needed to and they made shots and we didn’t,” said William Powell, senior forward for the Redhawks.

The Redhawks were able to pull out a victory in their next game, against University of Texas Rio Grande, having one of their best offensive performances of the season.

Yesenia may be reached at
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