OREM— Despite a pair of 20-point performances from Brandon Averette and Casdon Jardine, Utah Valley dropped an 87-85 overtime thriller to Seattle U on Saturday afternoon at the UCCU Center.
 
Utah Valley falls to 9-15 overall and 3-6 in WAC play, while the Redhawks improve to 12-12 overall and 5-4 in league play. 
 
Tied 85-85 in overtime, Seattle U's Morgan Means knocked down a shot with three seconds remaining to give the Redhawks the lead. UVU then wasn't able to get a shot off with 1.5 seconds to go as the Redhawks secured the win.
 
Leading 5-4 to open the game, Seattle U used an early 9-2 run to jump out to a 14-6 advantage at the 12:40 mark. Utah Valley cut the lead to just four points, 22-18, with 9:25 to play in the first after back-to-back buckets from Jardine and Morley. The Redhawks responded with seven unanswered points in just a 30-second span to take its biggest lead of the half, 29-18, with 8:44 remaining in the half. Jardine and Averette combined for 14 of UVU's 18 points over the final eight minutes as the Wolverines outscored SU 18-11 during that stretch to cut the Redhawk lead to just four points, 40-36, at the break.
 
Utah Valley scored the first five points of the second half on a pair of Emmanuel Olojakpoke free throws and an Averette three to take its first lead of the game, 41-40. The Wolverines then used a 9-0 run over just a one-minute span to take a 50-45 lead with 16:17 to play. Seattle U came back to tie the game at 50-50 and then again at 56-56 with 11:25 to go. 
 
Cavit Ege Havsa then knocked down a shot from beyond the arc that sparked a 10-3 UVU run as the Wolverines took a 66-59 advantage with 8:31 remaining. Seattle U came back and tied the game, 77-77, with 1:34 to play and again, 79-79, with 53 seconds to go. A pair of shots over the final seconds would not fall for UVU as the two teams headed to overtime. The Redhawks then edged the Wolverines 8-6 in the overtime period to secure the win.
 
Averette scored his 20 points on a 7 of 12 clip from the field, including a perfect 5 of 5 mark from the free throw line. He also dished out seven assists. Jardine knocked down 8 of 13 shots from the field, including a 4 of 7 mark from long range. He also pulled down six rebounds.
 
Olojakpoke was also in double figures with 13 points as he went 4 of 6 from the field and a perfect 5 of 5 from the free throw line. He also pulled down six boards to go along with a pair of blocks. 
 
TJ Washington just missed a double-double with nine points and nine assists. He also had six rebounds. Brandon Morley had eight points, while Jamison Overton and Trey Woodbury each recorded six points.
 
As a team, Utah Valley shot an impressive 48 percent from the field compared to Seattle U's 44 percent mark. The Wolverines outrebounded SU 40-39 and had six team blocks to SU's five. 
 
The Wolverines will now travel to Texas and New Mexico next week to take on UT Rio Grande Valley and New Mexico State.