March 10, 2012
Box Score
BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Forwards Rory Blanche (Sr., Ashland, OR) and Zach Henifin (Sr., Bellingham) combined for 25 of their 34 points in the second half to lead top-seeded Western Washington University to a 74-65 win over fifth-seed Chico State Saturday in the second semifinal game of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Regional Tournament at Sam Carver Gymnasium on the campus of host Western Washington University.
The nationally 12th-ranked Vikings, who improved to 27-5, will play third-seeded Seattle Pacific (23-7) in Monday's championship game at 7 p.m. Seattle Pacific advanced with an 80-66 win over second-seeded Alaska Anchorage in Saturday's first semifinal.
Blanche scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half and Henifin had 10 of his 17 after the intermission. WWU also got 13 points from John Allen (Jr., Brier/Mountlake Terrace) and 11 from Richard Woodworth (So., Bellevue/Newport).
Forward Sean Park led Chico State, which finished at 25-8, with 13 points and a game-high five assists, while Amir Carraway had 11 points and Jason Conrad scored 10.
The Vikings trailed 35-30 early in the second half, but took the lead for good on a tip-in by Henifin, the first of six consecutive Viking points by the WWU forward.
Henifin added a jumper to put his team ahead 45-42, then added two free throws a few moments later for a 47-44 lead.
WWU still led by just three with nine minutes left (54-51), but the Vikings then scored seven consecutive points getting a jumper from Woodworth, a three-pointer from Rico Wilkins (Jr., Dallas, TX) and a two-point jumper from Paul Jones (Jr., Kent/Kent-Meridian) to go ahead by 10, 61-51, with 6:37 left.
Chico State climbed back to within five points, 63-58, on a three-pointer by Damario Sims with 3:43 remaining, but Allen hit a three-pointer to re-establish an eight-point lead just inside the two-minute mark.
The Wildcats cut that deficit to six on two free throws by Park with 1:42 remaining, but two free throws by Woodworth and a spectacular tip-in by Henifin with 58 seconds left gave WWU a double-digit lead effectively sealing the victory.
WWU shot 50 percent from the floor (29-of-58), while holding Chico State to a 35.8 percentage (19-of-53) including just 33.3 percent (9-of-27) in the second half, while also earning a draw on the backboards (36-36) and having seven fewer turnovers (8-15).
"They're a pretty methodical team and I think we were not doing a very good job on the defensive glass in the first half, but I think our defense finally started to get to them in the second half," said WWU coach Brad Jackson. "I thought Zach (Henifin) played well again and I thought Dan Young (Sr., Federal Way) came in and played really well."
WWU had just five assists in the contest.
"It's a little deceiving because of the way they play," Jackson said. "We'd like to see that stat come up but in the second half, I think we only had one turnover and I think our defensive effort was just the key tonight."
