Box Score
The Chicago State men's basketball team gave another top WAC team a scare Saturday afternoon in Seattle, leading for a majority of the second half before Seattle U gained, and extended the lead and held on for a 74-66 victory. With the win, Seattle U clinched at least a share of the WAC regular season title while the Cougars are locked into the 10th seed but showed once again they can play with the top teams in the conference.
Brandon Betson (31) and
Jahsean Corbett (21) combined to score 52 of the Cougars 66 points while Corbett also led all rebounders with 14 boards for his fourth double-double of the season.
Seattle U led by as many as nine in the first half but the Cougars went into the locker room at halftime tied after a late 8-4 run. The teams were tied six times in the second half and the Cougars never trailed for the first 12 minutes, leading by as many as five, 42-37, before Seattle U took it's first second-half lead, 53-51, with 8:51 left to play.
At that point, the Redhawks surged to a four-point lead before Betson accounted for all seven Cougars points in a 7-3 CSU run that knotted the score at 58-58. SU's Cameron Tyson countered with two long three pointers which prompted a Chicago State timeout. Coming out of the break, Betson turned the ball over and fouled Tyson who went to the line a made two free throws to extend the lead to eight, 58-66. Seattle U capped the 12-0 run with a basket by Riley Grigsby and Chicago State trailed by 12, 70-58, in a span of just over three minutes.
With the win, the Redhawks improved to 14-4 in the league standings and clinched a share of the conference crown but could be as low as the No. 3 seed based on final standings. Chicago State will be the No. 10 seed and will face the No. 7 seed, which will be either Utah Valley or Abilene Christian.
The Cougars will play Tuesday, March 8 in the First Round of the Western Athletic Conference Tournament at the Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas at 10:30 p.m. CT. The complete tournament schedule with seeding will be released late Saturday night.
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. In 1991, the Chicago State women's tennis team became the first all-black college team to amass an unbeaten season at the NCAA level. 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, also making 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. Chicago State volleyball recorded a historic season in 2021, with Yanlis Feliz becoming CSU's first volleyball All-American and head coach Tony Trifonov earning selection as WAC Coach of the Year.
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