Nov. 20, 2005
Box Score
LAIE, Hawaii - With its top three scorers all fouling out in the final three minutes, nationally ranked Western Washington University fell 91-88 to host Brigham Young University-Hawaii in a men's basketball game at the Seasider Classic on Saturday at the Cannon Activities Center.
The Vikings, ranked No.4 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches/NCAA Division II Preseason Top 25, fell to 1-1. They were led by the game-high 25 points of forward Grant Dykstra (Sr., Lynden/Lynden Christian), who had 20 in the first half. Guard Ryan Diggs (Sr., Victorville, CA/Silverado) had 23 points and center Tyler MacMullen (Sr., Mukilteo/Kamiak/Edmonds CC) added 19 points and six rebounds.
BYU-Hawaii, which improved to 1-1, had five players reach double-figure points. Leading the Seasiders were guard Paul Peterson with 20 and a game-high eight assists and forward Austin Smylie with 18 and a game-high eight rebounds.
Western held a four-point lead, 82-78, with three minutes remaining, but Dykstra fouled out at 2:45, MacMullen at 1:55 and Diggs at 0:27 as BYU-Hawaii took an 87-86 lead on a three-point play by Jason Solis. Peterson scored the Seasiders' last four points, all at the free throw line.
After making two free throws to pull the Vikings to within one, 89-88, with 13 seconds left, Brett Weisner (So., Spokane/Shadle Park) was unable to connect on a potential game-tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.
Western shot 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the floor to 48.1 percent (26-of-54) for the Seasiders. But BYU-Hawaii hit 80.5 percent (33-of-41) at the free throw line to 67.9 percent (19-of-28) for the Vikings.
Western led 21-13 with 12:45 left in the first half, the eight-point lead being the largest by either team in the game. The Seasiders came back to tie the score at 47-all at halftime.
In all, there were 14 ties in the contest, with neither team holding a lead of more than three points in the final three minutes.
The Vikings return home to host Sonoma State University on Friday (7 p.m.) in opening-day action at the WWU/Chuck Randall Thanksgiving Classic.
