Box Score

BURNABY, B.C. - Western Washington University's duo of Deandre Dickson and Taylor Stafford each scored 31 points to lead the No. 19 Vikings to a 103-98 victory over Simon Fraser Friday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at West Gym.

The Viking, ranked No. 19 in the latest NABC Division II Coaches Poll, held off the Clan's late surge to improve to 9-2 on the season and improve to 3-0 in GNAC play. SFU falls to 2-10 on the season and 0-4 in league play. Both of WWU's losses this season game in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic against top 20 teams.

Dickson (Easton, CA/Bakersfield College) scored 31 points on 13-for-17 shooting from the field, and recorded 10 rebounds, in only his second game of the season after having early-season knee surgery. His offensive rebound and putback with 4.4 seconds remaining secured him the double-double and gave the Vikings the two-possession lead.

Stafford (Chicago, IL/Evansville) continued his scoring binge pouring in 31 points on 11-for-21 shooting, and scored 8 of WWU's final 10 points in the 5-point win. Over his last 6 games Stafford is averaging 28.2 points per game (169 total points).

Also scoring in double-digits for the Vikings were sophomore guard Trey Drechsel (Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian) with 14 points (4-for-10 shooting) and a had a game-high 7 assists, and redshirt freshman forward Daulton Hommes (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) with 14 points and 4 rebounds.

The dual 30-point games marks just the fourth time of 92 total 30-point games in WWU history that two players have each scored 30 points in a game. Dickson and Stafford joins Manny Kimmie (32 points) and Eric Schurman (30 points) on Nov. 20, 1989 vs. Western Baptist, John Patton (34 points) and Jeff Curtis (30 points) on Nov. 16, 1990 at Oregon Tech and Darnell Taylor (36 points) and Jacob Stevenson (32 points) on Jan. 24, 2002 at Western Oregon.

Simon Fraser was led by 28 points from junior guard Kedar Wright. Four Clan players reached double figures, with JJ Pankratz (19 points), Michael Provenzano (16 points) and Izah Sherman-Newsom helped lead the Clan to a season-high 56.7% field goal percentage (34-for-60).

WWU shot 56.1% from the field (37-for-66) and was 23-for-27 from the free throw line.

Western controlled most of the first half taking a 58-51 lead into halftime. The Vikings lead by as much as 19 points at 54-35, but the Clan went on a 14-2 run to end the half pulling to within 7 points with a three-pointer by Othniel Spence with 4 seconds left on the clock. Dickson led all players with 17 points on 7-for-8 shooting in the half, also pulling down 5 rebounds. Stafford added 15 points on 6-for-10 shooting. Pankratz (15 points) and Wright (11 points) scored in double-figures for the Clan. WWU shot 61.8% (21-for-34) from the field, while SFU was at 51.5% (17-for-33) in the high-scoring first half.

A back-and-forth second half went down to the wire with the game tied at 93-93 with 2:54 remaining. From there Stafford took over hitting four free throws and connecting on a pair of jump shots to score 8 of WWU's final 10 points. The Vikings led 101-98 after a pair of free throws by Sherman-Newsom with 41-seconds remaining, but Dickson put the game out of reach with an offensive rebound and a dunk with under 5 seconds remaining to put the game out of reach. Stafford scored 16 of his 31 points in the second half, while Dickson tallied 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field. Wright led all players with 17 second-half points connecting on 6-of-12 shots from the field.

The Vikings have a quick turnaround tipping off against Montana State Billings (7-4 overall, 2-1 GNAC) at 2 pm tomorrow at Whatcom Community College.