Last Friday, the Seattle University Men’s Basketball team hosted defending Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Champs California State University Bakers field for a home game at KeyArena. The Redhawks pulled through the low- scoring game with a 59-58 victory over the Roadrunners. Seattle U improved their overall record to 15-8 and 4-2 in conference play.

Aaron Menzies added to his impressive season as he recorded his ninth double-double of the season by racking up 16 points, 10 rebounds, and four blocks to the stat sheet. Jordan Hill followed, adding 11 points to the scoreboard while helping his team with three assists. Matej Kavas had 10 points, Morgan Means tallied a total of 8 points. Graduate guard Josh Hearlihy followed with seven points for the team.
“I think it was a good game. I think it was a good test for us to play a game that came down to the last couple of possessions,” he said. “We didn’t play exactly how we wanted to on the offensive side or the defensive side ideally, but to be able to grind it out it was a good team win.”

Aaron Menzies led the team in points with 16 against Bakersfield.

The Redhawks started the game slowly, as the Roadrunners pushed their way to an early lead. The Redhawks were only hitting one out of six from the field.

This didn’t get the Redhawks down, as they took control of the game, going on an 8-2 run to take the lead from the Roadrunners. The team went into the half with a slight lead as the Roadrunners trailed the Redhawks 29-25.

The Redhawks continued their lead in the second half, as they pulled their way to a 10-point lead, making it their largest lead of the night with a score of 43-33 and 11 minutes left to play. With less than 14 seconds left, and a Redhawk lead of 3-points, the ball was passed out wide for an easy basket to tie the game for the Roadrunners. Luckily for the Redhawks, Hill was there to block the shot, saving the team from an overtime competition.

Head men’s basketball coach Jim Hayford was proud of the win.

“It was a really intense game, and we’re really happy that we won. Jordan’s block was huge, we made some clutch free-throws and held onto our lead. It was really fun for me to see the students have so much fun at the game, I thought that really helped the cause as well,” he said.

The men’s basketball team takes the court once again this Saturday, Feb. 3, as they host Utah Valley at KeyArena for this year’s homecoming game.

Caylah may be reached at
[email protected]