Seattle University eked out a win last night in front of its largest home crowd of the season, barely defeating the California State-Bakersfield Roadrunners 76-72.

4,756 fans turned out for the Hoops for Haiti event, donating a hefty sum to the Haitian relief effort.

View an audio slideshow of the game here.

The first half started out slowly enough with Cervante Burrell finally putting the Redhawks on the board nearly three minutes into the game. Enter Chuck Garcia and Mike Boxley, and the musical chairs began.

Impressively deep, the Redhawks’ bench has been putting up big numbers all year—posting 42 points last night. Yet to start a game this season, the team’s current high scorer, Alex Jones, explained: “I like coming off the bench. I go in when everyone else is tired.”

Seemingly referring to his own team, he also finds the opposing defense ripe for the picking. On a recent scoring tear, yesterday was no different for Alex Jones, with a game total of 21 points. Surprisingly, more than half those points came from the line, where he shot 12 of 16 on the night.

What do think about those numbers, Alex? “Well, I see I missed four points,” said the humble Jones, who was also credited with the game-winning shot.

But the win didn’t come easy last night for the Redhawks.

Garcia went down for the count on a hard foul by Trent Blakley, the Runners’ powerful senior forward. The officials charged the hard foul like an intentional, and Seattle U got two shots and the possession.

At the half, the Redhawks led the Runners 40-27. Seattle U shot 42 percent from the floor, Alex Jones the high scorer with 13. Chuck Garcia had two points, two fouls and six rebounds at the break.

The Roadrunners started the second period with an eight-point run until Jones finally answered from the stripe and with a nice three-pointer to make it 18 points and counting for him in the game.

Aaron Broussard—totaling 12 points, 5 rebounds and a steal—was a major factor in the second, helping to revive the Redhawks’ lead to 63-56 at the six-minute mark.

Garrett Lever also stepped up his play in the half with a nice steal (two on the night) and drive for a layup.

But all the extra effort seemed to fizzle as the Roadrunners crept up from behind to narrow the game to two points.

With just 29 seconds left in the action, senior Taylor Olson, solid as a rock, once again proved how clutch he is in key situations by drawing the foul and making both shots from the line.

The Humble One, Alex Jones, sealed the win with a nice rebound and put-back before the Redhawks ran out the final seconds on the clock.

“We were fortunate to come out with a victory, but it wasn’t an effort representative of what we do,” said Coach Cameron Dollar in his post game interview. “When you make the game harder than it has to be, you usually don’t get those results.”

Finally over .500 for the first time in 2010, the Redhawks return to the KeyArena Tuesday night for their final home game of the season. The late tip off against Portland State is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be televised on FSN following the Gonzaga vs. California State-Bakersfield game.