Basketball

Seattle University hosted the annual Elgin Baylor Classic at the Redhawk Center this past weekend. The Redhawks came out on top in their three games played thus far, notching three wins to conclude their impressive basketball-filled weekend.

The Seattle U Men’s Basketball team started the tournament weekend off against the University of Denver on Nov. 23. The Redhawks didn’t hold back as they soared past Denver, 82-63.

The first half was close with the Redhawks leading 33-28 at the break. Seattle U came back ready to close it out as the Redhawks outscored Denver 49-35 in the second half.

Junior guard Morgan Means led the Redhawks to victory scoring 26 points. Redshirt junior guard Matej Kavas added 15 points of his own.

The Redhawks were back in action the next day against Fairfield University. The Redhawks kept the crowd on the edge of their seats in a nail-biting 83-80 victory.

The Redhawks were up at the half 38-31. Fairfield, however, wasn’t ready to back down as they outscored the Redhawks 49-45 in the second half, though it was not enough.

Kavas again had a fantastic offensive showing, putting up a total of 20 points, followed by redshirt junior guard Delante Jones who scored 17 points.

Seattle U didn’t stop there as they headed into day three of the tournament against Longwood University. The Redhawks ran away with yet another victory, beating Longwood 70-50.

Going into the half, the Redhawks had already put on a dominant performance as they surged past Longwood 38-15. Longwood came back in the second half outscoring the Redhawks 35-32, but the hole they had dug in the first half proved to be too deep.

Kavas once again led the way for the Redhawks as he racked up 22 points while Means followed close behind with 19 points.

“Our strength coach Cam does a good job with these guys. One of the big things that you have to have in that position is, is that the guys really do believe that you are making them a better athlete and they do and he is. So I think the guys didn’t even flinch and a lot of that credit goes to Cam,” Head Coach Jim Hayford said in a postgame press conference. “The biggest thing that we pushed during the pre-season workouts, was mental toughness. I know it doesn’t look like it because we’re 6-2, I think that’s a big part in what we’re trying to push in every occurrence in every part of practice, so maybe that’s what helped the guys become mentally better that third day.”

The Redhawks are back in action Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 7 p.m. to take on Northwest University in the final game of the Elgin Baylor Classic at the Redhawk Center.

Caylah may be reached at
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