Box Score

SEATTLE, Wash. - The Western Washington University Vikings fought back from a 12-point halftime deficit, but could not complete the comeback in a 58-51 loss Thursday evening in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men's basketball game at Brougham Pavilion.

The Vikings fall to 15-13 overall and 9-10 in GNAC play with their sixth loss in the last seven games. Seattle Pacific improves to 20-7 overall and 13-6 in conference play. WWU closes out the regular season Saturday at Saint Martin's with the No. 6 seed to the GNAC Tournament on the line.

WWU trailed 33-21 at halftime, but fought back to pull to within one point at 41-40 midway through the second half. Seattle Pacific immediately went on an 11-4 run to build a 52-44 lead. Kyle Impero (Sr., Everson, WA/Nooksack Valley/Whatcom CC) hit a 3-pointer with 1:01 remaining to cut the SPU lead to three points at 54-51, but the Falcons pulled away late at the free throw line for the 58-51 final.

Redshirt freshman Trey Drechsel (Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian) led the Vikings with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Junior forward Jeffrey Parker (Richmond, CA/Salesian) and sophomore guard Brett Kingma (Mill Creek, WA/Jackson/Oregon) each scored 9 points.

Western shot 37.3% from the field (22-for-59), including a 46.4% mark (13-for-28) in the second half (29.0/9-for-31 in the first half).

SPU was led by a double-double (15 points, 10 rebounds) from senior guard Bryce Leavitt and 12 points by Mitch Penner.

The Vikings trailed 20-9 midway through the first half before going on a 12-5 run to cut the deficit to 4 points at 25-21, fueled by back-to-back three-pointers by Kingma. SPU ended the half on an 8-0 run to take the 33-21 lead into the break, with the Vikings missing their final 8 shots of the half. Drechsel led all players with 10 points, including scoring WWU's first 8 points of the game, but the Vikings shot just 29.0% (9-for-31) in the half. Penner (4-for-9 shooting) and Carroll (3-for-5) each scored 8 points for the Falcons.

WWU was without starting point guard Ricardo Maxwell (16.1 points per game, 4.6 assists per game) due to a concussion. Similarly, SPU was without their starting point guard Will Parker who is out with a broken finger suffered Wednesday in practice.

The Vikings close out the regular season Saturday at Saint Martin's (7 pm) at Marcus Pavilion. With a win Saturday the Vikings will secure the No. 6 seed in the GNAC Tournament, while a loss would create a tiebreaker scenario for the No. 6 seed [GNAC explanation of tiebreaker for postseason tournament seeding].