Seattle U Advances in NIT with Dominant Win Over St. Thomas
The Seattle U men's basketball team just made history at the Redhawks Center, and it felt pretty good. In their first National Invitation Tournament appearance since 1957, the Redhawks dominated St. Thomas 67-52 in the opening round. Not only was this a big deal for Seattle U, but St. Thomas was playing its first ever NCAA Division I postseason tournament game. Pressure's on, right? Seattle U handled it.
Balanced Scoring Attack Gets the Job Done
This wasn't a one-man show. Brayden Maldonado led the way with 14 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Will Heimbrodt chipped in 13 points and five boards. Junseok Yeo added 12 points, while John Christofilis and Jojo Murphy each came off the bench with 10 points. That's the kind of depth you need in tournament play, and Seattle U had it in spades.
A Second Half That Sealed It
It wasn't all smooth sailing early. St. Thomas came out firing and actually led at halftime 31-30 after the Redhawks fell behind 20-10 in the opening minutes. But Seattle U has size on its side with 7-foot sophomore Austin Maurer, 6-10 Dan Houran, and 6-8 Junseok Yeo. After trailing 37-30 to start the second half, the Redhawks went on a 13-2 run capped by a Maldonado free throw and a three-pointer from Yeo to take control at 43-39. From there, they never looked back, stretching the lead to 17 points by the final buzzer.
The Redhawks (21-10) are heading to the second round where they'll face Auburn (18-16) on Saturday or Sunday. St. Thomas finished 24-10 and was the runner-up in the Summit League regular-season standings before losing in the Summit League tournament semifinals.
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This article was created with AI assistance and reviewed by Seattle On Tap editorial staff. Always verify information with official team sources.