Jan. 31, 2004

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Forward Grant Dykstra (So., Everson/Lynden Christian) led a balanced attack with 16 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and five steals as Western Washington University won its sixth straight game, defeating Seattle Pacific University, 80-73, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game Saturday at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The Vikings, No.9 in this week's NCAA Division II West Region rankings, improved to 13-5 overall and remained second in the GNAC at 7-2.

Seattle Pacific fell to 9-9 overall, 5-4 in the GNAC, and had a three-game winning streak snapped despite the game-high 28 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks of center Jason Chivers.

Western led by 11, 39-28, at halftime, and was up by as much as 17 in the second half. The Vikings were ahead by 15, 67-52, with 9:44 to go, but the Falcons ran off eight straight points to close the margin to seven, 67-60, with seven minutes left. Seattle Pacific eventually narrowed the gap to four, 75-71, on two free throws by Chivers with 59 seconds left, but got no closer as the Vikings hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final 24 seconds.

Guard Jason Burrell (Sr., Ontario, CA) had 14 points and five assists for Western, extending his career point total to 977, and guard Ryan Diggs (So., Victorville, CA/Silverado) added 12 points. Seven Vikings scored at least eight points, and all nine Vikings that played scored.

Chivers, who had 22 of his points in the second half, was 11-of-14 from the field for the Falcons. Jeff Knudson came off the bench to score 11 points for Seattle Pacific, all in an eight-minute span of the first half. Guard Jordan Lee added 10.

The Falcons had a 33-29 edge in rebounds and shot 50.9 percent (27-of-53) from the field, but committed 21 turnovers to just eight by Western.

The lead changed hands nine times in the first half, with neither team leading by more than three points in the first 15 minutes. But Chivers went to the bench with his second foul with 8:55 left in the period, and less than a minute later, Western began a 13-0 run that gave the Vikings a 34-24 lead with 2:47 left in the half.

The victory was the 349th in the coaching career of Western coach Brad Jackson, who can get No.350 when the Vikings travel to Western Oregon University on Thursday (7 p.m.) for a GNAC counter.