OREM, Utah—Jordan Poydras scored a game-high 17 points and made some key plays down the stretch to lead the Utah Valley University men's basketball team to a 61-54 win over Seattle U in the team's regular season finale on Saturday night at the UCCU Center.
 
UVU's seniors were honored prior to tipoff as Poydras, Ivory Young and Andrew Bastien were playing in their final games on the UCCU Center hardwood. The win secures Utah Valley (14-15, 6-8) the No. 4 seed at next week's WAC Tournament. The Wolverines are now set to take on fifth-seeded Seattle U (13-16, 5-9) on Thursday at 2 p.m. PT/3 p.m. MT.

"It's fun to watch your team grow," said Utah Valley head coach Mark Pope. "There's nothing I like about this kind of basketball except that we won. It's slow, and it's hard, and everyone is on their heels. It's hard, but what I'm so proud about with our guys is that about a month ago, we could not have managed this frustration. We're a team that in the past when things haven't gone smoothly offensively, we lose our focus defensively, but we didn't do that tonight. We really guarded tonight and we were really, really consistent."

Leading 53-52 with just 50 seconds to play, Poydras dropped a floater down the middle of the lane to give UVU a three-point, 55-52 advantage. Poydras then stole the ball on the other end of the floor, forcing Seattle to foul and send him to the free throw line. The senior then knocked down both free throws to give UVU a 57-52 lead with just 27 seconds to play. UVU made a couple of defensive stops and knocked down 4-of-4 free throw lines over the final 20 seconds to secure the win.
 
Poydras scored his 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the floor, including a 3-of-8 mark from long range. He also went a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line. The senior guard pulled down five rebounds to go along with two steals and an assist.
 
Conner Toolson helped with eight points, scoring back-to-back-to-back buckets over a 54 second stretch late in the second half to keep UVU in the game. Brandon Randolph scored seven points on a 2-of-3 clip, including a shot from beyond the arc. Bastien made his first start of the season and finished with six points and five rebounds.
 
Isaac Neilson registered five points, five rebounds and five blocks. Kenneth Ogbe, Hayden Schenck, and Young each tallied five points apeice. Schenck also pulled down five boards on the night.
 
As a team, Utah Valley connected on 43.5 percent (20-of-46) of its shots on the night while limiting Seattle U to a 37.5 percent (21-of-56) clip. UVU knocked down eight three pointers on the night. UVU out-rebounded Seattle U 33-32 and out scored the Redhawks 26-14 in the paint.
 
Morgan Means led Seattle U with 16 points. William Powell scored nine while Matej Kavas added eight.
 
Utah Valley now turns its attention to the WAC Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Wolverines have earned the No. 4 seed at the tournament and will take on fifth-seeded Seattle U on Thursday, March 9 at 2 p.m. (PT).