Jan. 23, 2016
Box Score | Season Stats
ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Western Washington senior point guard Ricardo Maxwell tied his career-high with 31 points, including a pair of crucial baskets in the last minute of the game, to lead the Vikings to an 89-84 victory over Central Washington Saturday in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Nicholson Pavilion.
The Vikings let a 21-point second-half lead slip away as Central gained an 84-83 lead with 1:02 remaining to cap a 20-3 run (WWU led 80-64 with 7:09 remaining). Maxwell then took over scoring a pair of baskets and drawing a key charge to lead the Vikings to the victory.
Western improves to 12-7 overall and 6-4 in GNAC play, and has now won 6 of the last 7 and 13 of the last 16 in the rivalry series vs. the Wildcats. CWU falls to 11-4 overall and 6-4 in conference play having its 12-game home court winning streak snapped (was 6-0 in Ellensburg this season).
"I am very proud of our players, they are truly working hard to play with purpose and tonight they did," said fourth-year head coach Tony Dominguez. "It was a great team effort to get tonight's win in a very tough environment and go 2-0 on the road this week."
Maxwell (Cincinnati, OH/Withrow/Edmonds CC) scored 21 of his 31 points in the first half, and was limited to just 6 points in the first 19 minutes of the second half before taking over in the last minute. He matched his career high in points scored in a WWU uniform set almost exactly a year ago Jan. 24, 2015 vs. Western Oregon. Maxwell was 12-for-20 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
Junior forward Jeffrey Parker (Richmond, CA/Salesian) added 17 points, while redshirt freshman forward Trey Drechsel (Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian) and senior guard Kyle Impero (Everson, WA/Nooksack Valley/Whatcom CC) contributed 12 points each. Parker just missed his second double-double of the season recording a team-high 9 rebounds. A total of 12 players saw action for WWU, with nine scoring points.
The Vikings shot 50.0% from the field for the game (30-for-60), but cooled in the second half with a 40.0% mark (12-for-30) after shooting 60.0% in the first half (18-for-30). The Vikings were 23-for-28 (82.1%) from the free throw line.
Senior forward Joseph Stroud led the Wildcats with a career-high 34 points on 12-for-15 shooting from the field (3-for-4 3-pointers). Senior guard Gary Jacobs recorded a double-double with 24 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
The Vikings trailed by 10 points early at 14-4 at the 15:28 mark, but Western answered with a strong last 15 minutes of the first half to take a 12 point lead (49-37) into intermission. After going down 10 points, WWU answered with a 19-7 run to take a 23-22 lead on a Maxwell jumper. The Vikings continued finished off the half with a 45-23 run after trailing 14-4 to take the halftime lead 49-37.
Maxwell led all players in the first half with 19 points (8-for-11 shooting) and Parker added 9 points as the Vikings shot 60.0% from the field (18-for-30).
The Vikings held a 16-point lead at 80-64 midway through the second half, but CWU went on a 20-3 run to gain an 84-83 lead with less than a minute remaining in the game. Maxwell answered with a driving layup to regain the lead at 85-84 and then drew a charge on the defensive end to draw a key turnover. Maxwell added another layup to increase the lead to 3 points at 87-84 and Parker iced the game with a pair of three throws to bring the game to the final score of 89-84.
Impero led the Vikings scoring 10 points in the second half, while Stroud scored 19 of his game-high 34 points in the second half (6-for-8 from the field).
The Vikings (12-7, 6-4 GNAC) face a quick turnaround with a Tuesday game at Simon Fraser (7 pm) and then host Montana State Billings Thursday at Whatcom Pavilion (7:30 pm). WWU is now tied for 5th in GNAC with Central with matching 6-4 league marks.
