­­SEATTLE—Utah Valley got behind early and couldn't overcome a large halftime deficit as the Wolverines dropped a 63-50 decision to Seattle U on Saturday night at KeyArena in Seattle, Wash.
 
The loss drops UVU to 10-12 overall and 2-5 in WAC play, while Seattle U improves to 11-11 on the season and 3-4 in league play with the win.
 
Seattle U jumped out to a quick 10-2 lead after the first five minutes of play in the first half. UVU's Brandon Randolph knocked down the Wolverines' first field goal of the game at the 14:13 mark before Kenneth Ogbe made it back-to-back UVU shots to cut the SU lead to four points, 10-6, with 13:12 to play in the half. The Redhawks then used a 10-4 run to take a 10-point, 22-12 lead with just under seven minutes remaining in the half. SU then outscored UVU 10-6 over the final six minutes to take a 32-18 lead into the break.
 
Utah Valley opened the second half on a 12-3 run over a four-minute span to cut the Redhawk lead to just five points, 35-30, with 16:09 to play. SU countered with an 8-0 run of its own to go back up by 13 points, 43-30, with 13 minutes remaining. UVU would cut the SU lead to eight points, 54-46, at the 4:59 mark but couldn't get any closer as the Redhawks continued to build on its lead to secure the 63-50 victory.
 
Ogbe led Utah Valley with a team-high 12 points, connecting on 3-of-9 shots from the field and 5-of-8 shots at the free throw line. Ogbe also pulled down six boards. Randolph was also in double figures with 10 points. The junior guard hit 4-of-11 shots from the field and 2-of-4 shots at the stripe Randolph also pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists on the night.
 
Jordan Poydras scored nine points, while Isaac Neilson helped with seven. Neilson also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds in 17 minutes of action. Andrew Bastien scored a season-high four points on a 2-for-3 shooting clip. Bastien also pulled down three rebounds.
 
Utah Valley shot a season-low 29.5 percent (18-of-61) from the field, including a season-low 11.5 percent (3-of-26) from three-point range. Seattle U connected on 46 percent (23-of-50) of its shots, including a 35 percent (7-of-20) mark from long range.
 
Matej Kavas led Seattle U with a game-high 18 points. William Powell and Brendan Westendorf were also in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
 
Utah Valley will continue WAC road play next week against UMKC and Chicago State. The Wolverines will travel to take on UMKC on Thursday night before play at Chicago State on Saturday. UVU's next home game will be against CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 16.