In basketball, there is a common saying that defense wins games and the Seattle U Redhawks displayed that recipe for success against the visiting Alcorn State Braves. Though this may be it was a tough and physical battle for the Redhawks.
Alcorn State came out of the gate playing full-court defense, leading to early turnovers for the Redhawks. Although, thanks to smart coaching by Chris Victor he made the right adjustments that helped the Redhawks get back into the game. Despite the tough pressure, Seattle U came out strong shooting the three-pointer primarily and cutting to the basket. They played team basketball by driving to the line forcing defenders to collapse on the inside leaving the shooters open for a three. Though Seattle U was shooting the ball at an efficient rate they were getting sloppy with careless turnovers. They ended up having 10 turnovers by the end of the first half. Just three fewer turnovers than their per-game average (13.0). By the end of the first half, Alcorn State was up by three points leading by 31-28.
Once the clock started running for the second half, Seattle U stepped up their game and was not about to take the first home loss. They came out of the gate playing more physical, beating their defenders on the inside while also closing out on Alcorn State shooters. Within just under four and half minutes of the game Alcorn State was shooting a terrible 9.1% from the three only making one shot. The Redhawks’ defense wasn’t just being displayed against the shooters but also the on the glass as well. They were heavily beating Alcorn State on the defensive boards opening up opportunities for fastbreaks and cutting to the basket. Redhawks at one point were up by 13 with just over 12 and a half minutes left to play.
Although, Alcorn State was not ready to give up quite yet. They managed to cut their deficit within one after a tough basket by Alcorn State Jeremiah Kendall with a little under eight minutes left in the game. Despite managing to let Alcorn State come back the Seattle U ended up going on a 12-0 run thanks to solid work on the glass giving them a 56-69 with less than three minutes left to ice the game.
It was strong a performance for the team leader Cam Tyson who had 13 points and 8 rebounds shooting 5-10 from the floor. It was also a big game for Riley Grigsby who put up 9 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks. As mentioned, it was solid work on the glass Seattle U ended up outrebounding Alcorn state Though they took the win Seattle U needs to improve on not turning the ball over after conceding a season-high 17 against Alcorn State. Seattle U remains undefeated at home this season and looks to continue as the season moves forward.
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Statistics Courtesy of Sports Reference and ESPN.