Nov. 4, 2011
Box Score
ANAHEIM, Calif. - Forward Rory Blanche (Sr., Ashland, OR) and guard John Allen (Jr., Brier/Mountlake Terrace) each scored 14 points, lifting Western Washington University to a 74-61 victory over Dominican University of California on Friday in opening-day men's basketball action at the fifth annual Disney West Coast Tip-Off Classic being held at the Anaheim Convention Center.
It was the season debut for both teams.
Blanche, who also grabbed a game-high nine rebounds, scored 12 points in the first 20 minutes to give the Vikings a 33-32 lead at halftime. Allen had 10 points in the second half.
WWU opened up a nine-point lead, 47-38, with 12:20 left in the game on a layup by Rico Wilkins (Jr., Dallas,TX/DeSoto), who had eight of his 12 points in the final period. But Dominican cut that advantage to two, 50-48, with 10:01 to go and was within six, 58-52, at the 7:07 mark.
The Vikings then scored 13 straight points to take a 19-point lead, their biggest of the game, with 3:44 left. Dominican never got closer than 13 after that.
Ryan McIntosh scored a game-high 15 points for Dominican, 13 in the first half.
WWU, which did not make a 3-point field goal in 11 attempts, had just 10 turnovers to 24 for the Penguins. Zach Henifin (Sr., Bellingham) contributed nine points, five steals and four rebounds for the Vikings.
WWU plays UC San Diego on Saturday (2:30 p.m.) and Chestnut Hill (Penn.) on Sunday (4 p.m.). UCSD cruised by Chestnut Hill, 102-74, in another first-day contest.
This is WWU's second appearance in three years at the Disney tourney where it won two of three games to claim the tourney title in 2009.
