Box Score

BAYAMON, Puerto Rico - For the second time in two days, Western Washington University was unable to hold onto a six-point halftime lead, falling 91-76 to University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras on Wednesday, Nov. 19, at the Complejo Deportive UPRB.

The Vikings, ranked No.11 in the NABC/NCAA Division II Preseason Top 25, had their record evened at 2-2. They led 39-33 at halftime, but were outscored 58-37 in the final 20 minutes.

"We're disappointed after being up by six at halftime and we felt like things were going well," said WWU head coach Tony Dominguez. "We won the boards, but we missed a lot of open shots. We really had a hard time with the ball and the court, but we're a very good shooting team that really struggled shooting both free throws and threes. We had a lot of open shots that we missed that translated into open shots for them."

WWU got 42 of its points from the guard combo of Jaamon Echols (Jr., Seattle/Rainier Beach) and Ricardo Maxwell (Jr. Cincinnati, OH/Withrow). Echols scored 22 points, making 6-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from 3-point range. Maxwell had 20 points on 7-of-14 floor shooting.

Together, Echols and Maxwell hit 54.2 percent from the field, 13-of-24. The rest of the Vikings managed just 29.7 percent, 11-of-37.

Also scoring in double figures for WWU was Jeffrey Parker (So., Richmond, CA/Salesian) with 10 points.

PR-Rio Piedras got a game-high 28 points from Brian Martinez on 11-of-16 field-goal shooting. Omar de Jesus had 14 points and Joseph Hernandez 10 for the Gallitos, who shot 52.2 percent (36-of-69) from the floor.

WWU lost 84-78 to Puerto Rico-Bayamon on Tuesday after leading 46-40 at halftime.

"We've had a hard time with the heat and conditions and we felt like that affected our focus," Dominguez said. "Both teams were solid tough opponents, but this is not something we are going to dwell on, it's something that we're learning from and trying to get tougher from.

"But we will have a bounce back week and get back on track. We're still very confident in our guys. If anything, we're trying to figure out our rotations and role definitions ... We're a very good team. It was not a very good couple of days as far as results go, but we definitely learned from these games."

The Vikings conclude their trip with an exhibition game at American University-Puerto Rico on Saturday, Nov. 22 (6 p.m.).