Nov. 12, 2016 Box Score
HAYWARD, Calif. - Senior forward Jeffrey Parker scored a game-high 32 points on 13-for-15 shooting from the field to lead the Western Washington Vikings to a 107-81 victory over Cal State East Bay Saturday evening in non-conference college basketball action in the final day of the Pioneer Challenge.
The 26-point victory improves the Vikings to 2-0 on the young season, leaving the Bay Area with wins over Sonoma State (72-64) and the tournament host Pioneers. CSUEB evens its season record at 1-1 with the defeat.
"These were two outstanding wins for us to open the season on the road," said head coach Tony Dominguez. "Tonight we exploded offensively after a bit of a slow start last night. I felt like we executed our game plan perfectly, rebounded well and forced them into shots we wanted to take."
Parker (Richmond, CA/Salesian) returned to his native Bay Area and recorded his fifth career 30-point effort. The senior scored 22 of his 32 points in the first half, going 10-for-11 from the field (2-for-2 3-pointers). He finished hitting on 13 of 15 shots from the field and was 4-for-4 from three point range.
"It was extremely gratifying to see Jeffrey have such a great game returning to the Bay Area in front of so many friends and family," added Dominguez. "With his mother recently passing away, to see him have this type of game, under these circumstances, in front of so many family members makes me extremely proud of him."
Parker led five Vikings who reached double-digits in scoring. Senior point guard Taylor Stafford (Chicago, IL/Evansville) finished with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals. Redshirt freshman Trevor Jasinsky (12 points), sophomore Trey Drechsel (11 points) and Brad Wallace (10 points) rounded out the scoring leaders.
The Vikings shot 64.7% from the field for the game (37-for-58), while connecting on 11 of 22 shots from three-point range.
WWU held a 11-point lead at 51-40 at the half, led by Parker's 22 points. The Vikings never trailed after the first three minutes of the game, and grew a lead to as big as 35 points at 101-66 with 2:21 left in the game.
Western returns to Bellingham for the home opener against Holy Names on Saturday (Nov. 19) at 2 pm at Whatcom Pavilion.
Game Notes: Parker now has 1,420 points in 92 career games (15.4 points per game), remaining 11th on the all-time WWU scoring list (Mike Franza is 10th with 1,436 points)...Jasinsky scored a career-high 12 points in his second collegiate game...Stafford is averaging 14.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 7.0 assists per game in the first two games of the season...through the first two games of the season WWU is shooting 55.9% from the field (62-for-111) and 46.8% from three-point range (22-for-47).
