Cougars Drop WAC Home Opener to Seattle U 93-77

Box Score The Chicago State men's basketball team lost their Western Athletic Conference home opener to Seattle University 93-77 Thursday night at the Jones Convocation Center in Chicago. With the loss, the Cougars drop to 4-12 overall and 0-3 in the WAC while Seattle U, playing their first conference game of the season, improve to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

Freshman Ali Dibba, fresh off being named WAC Freshman of the Week, led the Cougars with 24 points while fellow freshmen Jahsean Corbett and Bryce Johnson also scored in double with 13 and 10, respectively. Brandon Betson also scored 10 as CSU had four double figure scorers. 

Corbett opened the scoring in the game and for the Cougars with a three and Seattle U answered with a 5-0 run for a 5-3 lead. Chicago State scored the next four from the free throw line and a Coreyoun Rushin layup to go up 9-5. Three of the next five Redhawks hoops were three pointers while CSU countered with a Betson three and Dominique Alexander tied the game with a three, 17-17, with 11:23 remaining in the first half. 

With the score tied, Chicago State scored nine of the next 13 points to go up five, 26-21. Following a RedHawks three, the Cougars scored the next four on a dunk by Dibba and two Teddy Bayi Ba Mendeng and the CSU lead was six, 30-24. Seattle U would re-take the lead with a 7-0 run, five coming from the charity stripe and the Redhawks led 31-30. Following a Bryce Johnson three for the Cougars, Seattle U closed the half with a 14-5 run and led at the half, 45-38.

Seattle U converted 7-of-16 first-half three pointers while the Cougars managed to keep it close, making 6-of-13. Both team also made 8-of-9 free throw. Darrion Trammell scored 18 first-half points for the Redhawks while Ali Dibba led the Cougars with nine while seven CSU players showed up in the scoring column.

Chicago State cut the lead to two coming out of the locker room in the second half with a 6-1 run with Dibba scoring five of those. After the teams traded three-point field goals, Seattle U went on a 17-1 run while the Cougars failed to score for over four minutes and the Redhawks led 66-48, and their largest lead of the game, 18 points, with 11:23 remaining to play, leaving the Cougars to play catch up.

The Cougars couldn't get the Redhawks lead to single digits the rest of the way, coming to within 10 following a pair of Dibba free throws and Seattle U's lead was 76-66 with 4:37 left to play. The Redhawks missed a three-point attempt but gathered up the offensive board and converted the and one to start a 7-0 run to push the lead back to 17, 83-66, and the Cougars wouldn't get closer than 13 the rest of the way.

Next up for the Cougars will be their second consecutive home conference matchup, welcoming California Baptist to the JCC on Saturday, Jan. 8 at 12 p.m. The Lancers at 10-3 and are scheduled to begin conference play against the Chicago State, marking the fourth consecutive game where CSU is scheduled to face a team playing their first conference game of the season. California Baptist was scheduled to host Seattle but that game was postponed. 

About Chicago State
Chicago State University Athletics is comprised of 15 intercollegiate teams involving over 150 student-athletes that compete in basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, tennis, indoor and outdoor track and volleyball. CSU held memberships in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and NCAA Division II before transitioning to NCAA Division I in 1994. Melvin Bland was the first CSU student-athlete to gain NAIA All-American status in 1974 as a wrestler. Fred Evans became the first black swimmer ever to win a national championship in 1975. CSU's women's basketball team earned a spot in the 2011 Women's Basketball Invitational and CSU's men's basketball team won the 2013 Great West Conference Tournament title and made an appearance in the CollegeInside.com Postseason Tournament (CIT).  The Men's Outdoor Track & Field 4x100-Meter Relay team were 2019 Honorable Mention All-Americans and WAC Champions. Their feat marked the first time the Chicago State's men's track & field program was represented at the national meet. In 2021, three different CSU teams earned victories over Big Ten opponents with men's soccer beating Northwestern, women's basketball upending Wisconsin and volleyball, which established a school record 17 wins and hosted a post-season volleyball tournament for the first time in program history, swept Indiana in Bloomington.

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