Brandon Brown controlled the glass for the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff with 17 rebounds and led the Golden Lions with 17 points, but Seattle University placed five players in double-figure scoring late Monday with a 77-56 win before 1,082 at Seattle's Climate Pledge Arena.
Brown, a 6-foot-5 junior transfer guard, nearly reached his average (18.9 points per game) from Itawamba Community College in Mississippi. He set a season high for the second straight game, after scoring 15 at the University of Portland last Friday.
"Brandon is a competitor and a guy that will bring it every night," UAPB Coach Solomon Bozeman said in a news release. "He has a chance to be the best rebounder in the country, and it shows in his big-time performance tonight.
Brown is averaging 9.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 2 steals per game.
The game was the fifth of a seven-game Western swing to start the season for the Lions (0-5) and the second on the Pacific Coast. UAPB will visit the University of California, Santa Barbara, for the first game of the Cerebro Sports Cali Sports Jam starting at 9 Central tonight (streaming on ESPN+) and finish the Western swing by visiting University of the Pacific for a 9 p.m. Central tipoff Friday.
UAPB and Seattle (4-1) endured 11 lead changes and eight ties, one of them being 31-all at halftime. Brown totaled 10 points and 10 rebounds in the first half and helped the Lions score 16 of their first-half points in the paint.
The Lions then shot cold from the floor in the second half (7 for 25) and finished the game 18 for 53 for 34%, including 3 of 21 from 3-point range, but made 17 of 19 free throws.
Seattle's second-half shooting (16 of 30) allowed the Redhawks to finish 28 for 60, including 8 for 24 from the arc. They also made 13 of 15 free throws.
"The first half we defended well, but we became off on defense in the second half, and it showed," Bozeman said. "We also have to do a better job of moving the ball and knock down open shots."
Shawn Williams had 16 points, Trey Sampson 12 and Kylen Milton 7 for the Lions, who jumped out to a 12-6 lead. Riley Grigsby powered the Redhawks with 21 pints, followed by Cameron Tyson with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Darrion Trammell and Kobe Williamson with 12 each, and Emeka Udenyi with 10 points.