Nov. 13, 2012

Box Score

LAIE, Hawaii - Forwards Austin Bragg (Jr., Longview/Mark Morris) and Paul Jones (Sr., Kent/Kent-Meridian) combined for 38 points and 19 rebounds as Western Washington University defeated Brigham Young University Hawaii, 84-78, in a West Region men's basketball match-up at the Cannon Activities Center on the BYUH campus.

The defending national champion Vikings, ranked No.6 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Top 25 Preseason Poll, improved to 2-0. The game was the season opener for BYUH.

Bragg, a transfer from Clark CC where he earned all-region honors, had 19 points, 15 in the second half, and 10 rebounds. Jones also finished with 19 points on 8-of-12 field-goal shooting and grabbed nine rebounds.

WWU guard John Allen (Sr., Brier/Mountlake Terrace) scored 17 points, 16 of them in the second period. Point guard Richard Woodworth (Jr., Bellevue/Newport) and reserve Rico Wilkins (Sr., Dallas, TX/DeSoto) each had 10, all of Wilkins' points coming in the first half.

"Rico (Wilkins) and the bench kept us in it in the first half, and the starters took over in the second half," said WWU coach Tony Dominguez. "This was a big win for us."

BYUH got a game-high 27 points from transfer center DeAndre Medlock. Bracken Funk had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Seasiders, and Okesene Ale contributed 12 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

WWU trailed by as many as 10 points, 33-23, with 5:42 left in the first period, but rallied with a 13-5 run for a 38-38 tie at halftime.

Allen hit two 3-pointers and Bragg one in a 9-2 run that gave the Vikings a 57-49 lead six minutes into the second half. They led by as many as nine points on three occasions, the last at 68-59 with 8:18 to go.

BYUH came back, three times getting as close as two, the last at 77-75 with 1:47 left.

The only scoring from then on came at the free-throw line with WWU hitting 7-of-8, four of them by Bragg, and BYUH 3-of-4.

WWU is at Chaminade University on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. HT), Nov. 14.