Redhawks’ Explosive Second Half Offense Outpaced by Broncos in 84-72 Defeat
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Seattle Redhawks guard Brayden Maldonado dribbles the ball past midcourt against the Santa Clara Broncos. Credit: Seattle U Men’s Basketball/Instagram [/caption]
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Following a loss Saturday night loss to the Portland Pilots where they scored just 53 points, the Seattle U Redhawks couldn’t afford another sluggish offensive performance going up against the high-powered Santa Clara Broncos, and they heeded the call with one of their best offensive games of the season.
But despite 20 minutes of some of their best offense in the second half, the Redhawks still fell to the Broncos 84-72 Wednesday night at the Leavey Center, continuing to slump in WCC play.
After the Broncos opened the game on a 17-5 run, it looked like the Redhawks might not be able to hang with the WCC’s best offense and a blowout appeared imminent. But Seattle settled into the game. Five Redhawks finished with multiple field goals, and they held Santa Clara well below their usual offensive production to stay within striking distance.
20 minutes into the action, the Broncos led 33-29, and both offenses found their strides coming out of the break in what turned into a fast-paced scoring frenzy.
For Seattle, Brayden Maldonado led the way with 14 points in the second half. Santa Clara blitzed and hedged screens all night, but the playmaking guard stayed relentless, especially off ball to find looks as he nailed all four three-point attempts in the second half. Junseok Yeo finished the game with 17 points, 10 of which came in the second half and Will Heimbrodt had seven in the second half as the offense regularly found the bottom of the net.
Despite the strong offensive efficiency scoring in the second half, however, mistakes killed Seattle U all night. Santa Clara averages a WCC high 88 points per game, and giving the Broncos extra possessions is no recipe to pull off an upset. 11 Seattle turnovers turned into 17 Santa Clara points while a usually disruptive Redhawk defense only forced three turnovers themselves, ultimately proving to be the difference in a 12-point loss.
The Broncos came into Wednesday night 16-0 when they scored 80 points, and a 51-point second half got them to that mark. Santa Clara kept attacking the paint like it did in the first, but had more success converting looks off of it. They finished the half shooting 8-18 from three-point range and post players such as Elijah Mahi made the right plays when Seattle sent pressure his direction. Mahi finished with a game-high seven assists passing out of post-up situations.
After falling to the second place Broncos, Seattle will face off in a rematch against Oregon State on Sunday at 5 PM PT in a must-win game for the slumping Redhawks.
