Redhawks Blow Chances Late, Fall to Tigers 61-58 in WCC Tournament
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - Seattle U had three looks late to tie their third round battle against Pacific on Saturday night. A missed Will Heimbrodt layup, missed Brayden Maldonado layup, and a missed Maldonado three will all continue to play in the Redhawks heads as they head back home following a 61-58 loss at Orleans Arena that ended their season earlier than hoped.
In the first half, Seattle looked like it was in the driver’s seat. Junseok Yeo led the Redhawks with nine first half points, but in his matchup with Pacific’s Elias Ralph, he picked up his second foul, forcing head coach Chris Victor to take him out with about five minutes left before halftime. After Yeo’s substitution, the Tigers stormed back. They closed out the half on a 16-1 run, fueled by six Seattle turnovers.
As a result, Seattle trailed 32-29 at halftime after leading for much of the half, but Victor’s squad kept the game within at least two possessions until the six-minute mark. The Tigers strung together a 10-0 run off the back of three Seattle turnovers to push the lead to 53-43. This sequence of miscues dug a hole that proved to be too big for the Redhawks to climb out of, though they certainly made a valiant effort to do so in the closing minutes.
Overcoming his early foul issues, Yeo led the game in scoring with 16 points and seven rebounds. He got his night started attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line. He converted on five of his eight free throws and that opened up his game from behind the arc. Defenders respected the potential blow by and he made three three pointers with extra space to operate from downtown.
On the flip side, Brayden Maldonado struggled in what could be his final game as a Redhawk, finishing with 13 points on 4-16 shooting from the field while going 3-10 from three with four rebounds and four assists. Teams in the WCC have not made Maldonado’s life easy and against the Tigers, he saw a lot of the same defensive looks with two defenders hard hedging on screens and someone glued to him as he tries to create space off the ball.
On Saturday night, unfortunately for Seattle, the tough shots that Maldonado has often converted on simply didn’t go through the net.
Helping somewhat make up for Maldonado’s cold night, Heimbrodt finished with 13 points, four rebounds, four assists, four blocks, and two steals. While he remained aggressive attacking the basket, he finished shooting 5-14 from the field and missed a couple of bunnies in the closing minutes that he would love to have back.
Neither Maldonado nor Heimbrodt had their most efficient games, but Victor could most likely live with the shots they took and missed, as nobody else stepped up from Seattle’s top three scorers. Pacific’s bench outscored Seattle’s 24-9 and the Redhawks starters played heavy minutes in the second half with nobody off the bench showing signs of life putting the ball in the basket.
Victor has relied so heavily on Jojo Murphy over the past month, especially when Maldonado missed three games with an injury, but he finished with no points in just 15 minutes. Houran Dan finished with just four points and turned the ball over four times. The Maldonado, Heimbrodt, and Yeo trio have usually led to success when they all score at least double digits, but the other Redhawks fell short, and the lack of a balanced scoring effort doomed them in the end.
Pacific runs its offense through Ralph, who finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three assists, but the Redhawks made life tough on him for most of the night. Whenever he posted up on the left wing, a help side defender rushed over for the double to force the ball out of his hands, and he shot just 4-15 on the night.
This strategy worked for a majority of the game for Seattle, but Ralph stayed active on the offensive glass and spaced the floor with a pair of three pointers. Contrary to the Redhawks, the Tigers also had players step up around their leading scorer. Everyone in Pacific’s nine-man rotation finished with a field goal and that depth proved to be a deciding factor in knocking off seventh-seeded Seattle.
Unable to advance to the quarterfinals, a once-promising season for the Redhawks ran out of steam once the WCC schedule began, and they couldn’t get back to playing at the level they did in November and December. As a result, while a postseason tournament may still be in the cards with a 20-13 record, they certainly won’t be playing in the NCAA Tournament, and Victor’s team will have to move forward with Maldonado, Yeo, and several seniors set to depart.
