By Brandon Brown
ESN Director of Content
SEATTLE, WA – Redhawks returned home and snapped a 4-game losing streak as they handled the Northwest Eagles on Sunday.
The game was a much needed one for a Seattle team that spent their first 7 games on the road and had found themselves in a losing streak over the past couple of weeks. The team needed a game to get back on track and get their rhythm back and there is no place better to do that than on your own floor.
The game was closer than many would have expected at the end of the first half. The Eagles were able to hang around early thanks to the energy they brought in the underdog role. They never truly shot a great percentage from the field, but they were able to crash the offensive glass and get second chances on several possession. Even with this great effort, Seattle was still able to create a 10-point lead heading into the break.
The second half is where the Redhawks really took over in this one. Northwest shot 33% from the field in the first half but that sharply dropped to 17% for the game due to the intensified defensive effort from the home side. Seattle also forced the Eagles into 23 turnovers on the night and were able to score 34 points off those.
“We really played the kind of defense I know we can play in the second half,” coach Jim Hayford said. “We shot well from the foul line, we executed and got high percentage shots, but we can shoot the ball a whole lot better than we did.”
? Highlights from tonight’s home-opening W #TogetherWeSoar pic.twitter.com/P5gFNQmmQn
— Seattle U Men's Basketball (@seattleumbb) December 14, 2020
Riley Grigsby was the standout performer on the night for SU. The junior poured in 27 points on 11-16 shooting including 2-4 from deep. In total 10 of the 11 Redhawks who saw action on Sunday were able to get into the scoring column.
Next up for Seattle will be a matchup with College of Idaho on Thursday, Dec. 17th, a game that features the two alma maters of Redhawks legend Elgin Baylor. That game is scheduled for a 6:00 pm tipoff and can be streamed live on the WAC Digital Network and on the air through KTTH 770 AM and Mynorthwest.com.
Russell is the Content Director for the Eli Network. He studied broadcast journalism at Eastern Oregon and North Dakota State University. Mostly covers soccer and basketball in the Seattle area and is the current play-by-play voice for Seattle Redhawks basketball. You can follow him @brussbrwn.
