Box Score | Game Book

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Led by a game-high 32 points from senior guard Taylor Stafford and a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double by junior forward Deandre Dickson, the 20th-ranked Western Washington University men's basketball team capped a season sweep of rival Central Washington with an 85-72 victory Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at Nicholson Pavilion.

The Vikings won for the 11th time in the last 13 games to improve to 20-5 overall and gained sole possession of 1st place in the GNAC with a 14-3 league mark (Alaska Anchorage was defeated by Concordia). The Wildcats suffered their eighth consecutive defeat to fall to 12-11 overall and 7-10 in conference play.

Holding a five-point lead at the half at 38-33, WWU used a 14-2 run midway through the second half to pull away from a 4-point game. CWU would get only as close as a 9-point deficit at the 3:06 mark, but otherwise the Vikings led by double-digits for a majority of the final 14 minutes of the game.

Stafford (Chicago, IL/Evansville) notched his sixth 30-point game of the season, going 11-for-24 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line. He added 7 rebounds and a pair of steals while playing all 40 minutes.

Dickson (Easton, CA/Bakersfield College) recorded his third double-double of the season, scoring his 17 points off the bench on 6-for-13 shooting from the field and was 4-for-5 from the free throw line.

Junior guard Blake Fernandez (Mountlake Terrace, WA/Edmonds CC) scored a career-high 12 points (5-7 FG), with 10 of those points coming in 17 second-half minutes, and also dished out a career-high 7 assists.

Redshirt freshmen Daulton Hommes (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) and Trevor Jasinsky (Camas, WA) each had 8 rebounds as the Vikings held a 46-38 advantage in rebounding over the Wildcats.

Western overall shot 46.2% from the field (30-for-65), including 50.0% (16-for-32) in the second half. Entering the game as a top-10 free throw shooting team in the nation, WWU was 18-for-20 (90.0%) from the charity stripe.

Central was led by 24 points from Dom Hunter, a junior college teammate of Stafford's at Eastern Arizona College. Center Fuquan Niles tallied a 14-point, 14-rebound double-double.

Western raced out to a 13-point lead at 23-10 midway through the first half, but Central responded with an immediate 7-0 run to cut the lead to 6 points at 23-17. CWU continued to chip away at the lead and extended the run to 23-9 taking a 33-32 lead with 3:15 remaining. The Vikings held the Wildcats scoreless over the last 3 minutes going on a 6-0 run to take a 38-33 lead into halftime. Dickson (5-9 FG) and Stafford (4-10 FG) combined for 26 of the 38 points by scoring 13 points apiece. Hunter led the Wildcats with 12 points.

The Vikings built an early 10-point lead in the second half at 45-35, coming out of intermission on a 7-2 run. But the Wildcats would answer with a 10-4 run to cut the lead to 4 points at 49-45 at the 15:49 media timeout. Western came out of the timeout on a mission, going on a 14-2 run to turn the 4-point lead into a 16-point advantage taking a 63-47 lead. The key spurt, which included a 12-0 run, was highlighted by a 3-point play by Fernandez and a long 3-pointer by Jasinsky. Stafford scored 19 of his 32 points in the second half.

The Vikings close out the road portion of the regular-season schedule Saturday at Northwest Nazarene on Saturday (7 pm MT/6 pm PT).

Game Notes: The game was televised regionally by ROOT SPORTS, the eighth consecutive season a WWU-CWU rivalry game has been on TV...the victory gave the Vikings their 18th 20-win season in program history (9th in last 13 seasons)...WWU is 11-2 over last 13 games...recorded 100th career victory vs. Central Washington (trail all-time series 100-155) and have won 8 of last 10 and 15 of last 20 in the series...Taylor Stafford recorded his sixth 30-point game of the season, second-most in a single-season in program history (9 by Mike Franza in 1972-73) and tied for 4th-most in a career...in two games vs. CWU, Stafford scored 61 points (had 29 points 1/21 in Bellingham)...he is now averaging 22.3 points/game this season, currently the 2nd-best scoring average in a season in program history...Jeffrey Parker was held to 6 points, remaining 3rd in WWU scoring history, 7 points shy of second place (Ryan Diggs, 1,783 points)...Tony Dominguez is 8-2 vs. Central in his 5 years as head coach of the Vikings...WWU entered the game ranked No. 20 (NABC) and No. 4 in the NCAA II West Region.

-- @WWUHoops --