Box Score | Video Highlights

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington redshirt freshman Trey Drechsel scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Vikings to a 119-95 victory over Concordia Thursday evening in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Whatcom Pavilion.

The 119 points were the most in WWU history in a GNAC game (since 2002) and tied for 8th-most in any GNAC game. The previous high was 118 Dec. 6, 2014 at Simon Fraser (122-118 loss).

In addition to Drechsel's career night, senior point guard Ricardo Maxwell (Cincinnati, OH/Withrow/Edmonds CC) scored 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting as one of five Viking players to score in double digits.

The Vikings improve to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in GNAC play with the victory. In their first season at the Division II level, Concordia drops to 4-10 overall and 2-5 in conference play.

Drechsel (Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian) scored his 27 points in 28 minutes off the bench in just his fourth collegiate game, and narrowly missed the double-double with a game-high 9 rebounds.

"We have been waiting for Trey to have his breakout game, because this is what he can bring to the court," said head coach Tony Dominguez. "He was the key to the game with his passing, rebounding and making shots. He is a dynamic player."

Senior guard Kyle Impero (Everson, WA/Nooksack Valley/Whatcom CC) contributed 19 points (5 rebounds, 6 assists), junior forward Jeffrey Parker (Richmond, CA/Salesian) added 17 points and senior forward Colby Mitchell (Chugiak, AK/Mt. Hood CC) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.

The Vikings shot 57.5% from the field for the game (46-for-80), including 10-for-25 from 3-point range and 17-for-20 from the free throw line. The team also recorded a 24-to-9 assist-to-turnover ratio.

"We have had a lot of close games lately, so this is nice to get a big win to boost our confidence," added Dominguez. "We were able to pull away from a team that had a very nice shooting night, and get some big performances from our players."

Concordia was led by 29 points from junior forward Drew Martin, shooting 11-for-16 from the field. Riley Hawken (18 points, 8 assists), Tyler Gutierrez (13 points) and Latrell Wilson (11 points) also scored in double-digits. The Cavaliers shot 62.1% from the field for the game (36-for-58), including 9-for-19 from 3-point range.

The Vikings held an 11-point lead at 52-41 at halftime. Drechsel led all players with 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting (3-for-4 3-pointers) in 13 minutes. The half featured seven lead changes and four tie scores.

WWU trailed 18-15 at the 14:53 mark when Drechsel checked into the game for the first time. The Vikings went on a 10-5 run to build a 25-23 lead (8 of 10 points by Drechsel) and followed with a 16-4 run to extend the lead to 41-27. Martin led Concordia with 10 points.

Western pulled away in the second half out-scoring the Cavaliers 67-54 while shooting 62.5% in the half (25-for-40). Maxwell scored 21 of his 25 points in the second half and Parker scored 13 points. CU was led by 19 points by Martin.

The Vikings (10-6, 4-3 GNAC) return to action Saturday at 7 pm against nationally-ranked Western Oregon at Whatcom Pavilion (KBAI 930 AM, pregame show starting at 6:35 pm).