Box Score | Final Game Book | Game Highlights

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Western Washington senior guard Kyle Impero recorded his second career double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Vikings to their fourth consecutive victory with a 79-64 win over Montana State Billings Thursday night in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Whatcom Pavilion.

The Vikings ran their winning streak to four consecutive games to improve to 14-7 overall and 8-4 in GNAC play. Billings drops to 6-13 overall and 3-8 in GNAC play with its seventh straight loss.

Impero (Everson, WA/Nooksack Valley/Whatcom CC) led the Vikings with 17 points and recorded his first double-double of the season with a team-high 10 rebounds. He also had 4 steals in the contest. Impero's only other double-double was a 16-point, 10-rebound performance vs. Alaska Anchorage in last season's opening game of the GNAC Tournament.

Redshirt freshman Trey Drechsel (Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian) added 14 points and 7 rebounds in 26 minutes, while senior point guard Ricardo Maxwell (Cincinnati, OH/Withrow/Edmonds CC) contributed 12 points and senior forward Colby Mitchell (Chugiak, AK/Mount Hood CC) scored 10 points.

The Vikings shot 43.3% from the field (26-for-60), including 9-for-22 from 3-point range, while holding the Yellowjackets to 34.9% shooting from the field (22-for-63).

"Impero was pretty awesome, that was key tonight, but everybody came in and filled a role," said head coach Tony Dominguez. "The nice thing about having a deep bench is that when somebody has an off-night and other guys will fill in."

MSUB senior forward Emmanuel Johnson scored a game-high 25 points, shooting 8-for-16 from the field and 7-for-10 from the free throw line. Freshman forward Beverly Preston recorded his third double-double of the season with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

WWU raced out to an 8-0 lead and held a lead by as many as 17 points at 36-19 at the 6:34 mark. MSUB ended the first half on a 5-1 run to cut Western's lead to 11 points at 42-31 going into halftime. Impero led the Vikings with 9 points and 7 rebounds in the first half, while Drechsel, Maxwell and redshirt sophomore Brett Kingma (Mill Creek, WA/Jackson/Oregon) all contributed 6 points. Johnson led all players with 11 points for the Yellowjackets.

MSUB cut the Vikings lead to 9 points at 46-37 at the 16:02 mark, but WWU answered with a 17-7 run to extend the lead to 19 points at 63-44. WWU built the lead to 27 points at 79-52 before the `Jackets finished the game on a 12-0 run. Drechsel and Impero each scored 8 points in the second half.

"We've calmed down, we're playing more confidently, and when you do that, you're quicker to react, quicker to close out, do the things you need to do," added Dominguez on his team's 4-game winning streak.

The Vikings (14-7, 8-4 GNAC) continue their three-game home stretch of games hosting Alaska Anchorage (Thursday, Feb. 4, 7 pm) and Alaska (Saturday, February 6, 7 pm) next week. Both games will be played at Whatcom Pavilion.