HONOLULU, Hawai'i – The Western Washington University men's basketball team was dealt a 79-76 setback on Tuesday in the final game of its trip to the Hoops in Hawai'i D2 Power Invitational at the Hawai'i Convention Center.

The Vikings went 0-3 during the trip to Hawai'i and have dropped four of the last five games to slip to 7-5 on the season. Emmanuel College (Franklin Springs, GA) improved to 8-6 on the season to claim 7^th place in the tournament.

WWU sophomore forward Luke Lovelady (Tacoma, WA/Life Christian Academy/Point Loma) scored a team-high 20 points on 5-for-5 shooting to tie his single-game career high. He was also 10-for-11 from the free throw line, grabbed 7 rebounds and recorded a career-high 3 blocked shots. 

Junior forward Trevor Jasinsky (Camas, WA) added 19 points on 4-for-9 shooting and also had 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Junior forward KJ Bosco (Portland, OR/Benson/Portland CC) contributed 11 points on 4-for-7 shooting in 20 minutes.

Freshman Jalen Green (Renton, WA/Lindbergh) scored 11 points and junior Tucker Eenigenburg(Bakersfield, CA/Bakersfield College) had 12 points as five Vikings reached double-figures in scoring. Senior guard Tyler Payne (Long Beach, CA/La Mirada/Cerritos College) set a career-high with 9 assists.

Emmanuel's Kendrick Colvin scored a game-high 29 points on 12-for-22 shooting as the only Lion to reach double-digits in scoring. Austin Greene scored 9 points, including three free throws down the stretch to help seal the victory.

The tightly-contested game featured 20 lead changes and 16 ties.

The Vikings held a 72-70 lead following a Luke Lovelady layup with 3:17 remaining in the game, but the Lions answered with a crucial 6-0 run to turn the 2-point deficit into a 4-point lead. Brandon Simpson's three-point play with 41-seconds remaining gave. Emmanuel a 76-72 lead and Austin Greene hit 3-of-4 free throw attempts down the stretch. WWU senior guard Tyler Payne had his game-tying 3-point attempt at the buzzer rim out.

The Vikings held a 33-30 lead at the half, using a late 3-pointer by Trevor Jasinsky to take a 3-point lead into the break. WWU led by as many as 10 points at 25-15, but the Lions used a 15-4 run to take a 30-29 lead with under two minutes remaining in the half. Jasinsky led the Vikings with 9 points, withLuke Lovelady (8 points, 5 rebounds), Tucker Eenigenburg (7 points) and Jalen Green (6 points) providing the majority of the offense. Kendrick Colvin led Emmanuel with 11 points.

WWU returns to action in the new year, hosting Seattle Pacific on Thursday, Jan. 3 and Saint Martin's on Saturday, Jan. 5 in GNAC games in Carver Gym. The contests vs. the Falcons and Saints will feature a 7 pm tip-off each night. Thursday's rivalry game vs. SPU will feature a Blue Out with all fans encouraged to wear their blue WWU gear.

WWU will serve as the host for the 2019 GNAC Championships, with the top six teams in both the men's and women's conference standings at the end of the season qualifying for the tournament that will be held March 7-9 on WECU Court in Carver Gym. 

Fans can follow the men's basketball team online at WWUVikings.com/MBB, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUHoops) and Facebook (@WWUmensbball).

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, WWU has recorded a 20-win season in eight of the last 10 seasons. WWU is a six-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion and has appeared in the NCAA II Elite 8 three times. The Vikings won the 2011-12 NCAA Division II National Championship and advanced the following season to the NCAA II Final Four. Western has posted back-to-back 20-win seasons, including a 25-6 record in 2016-17 where it won the GNAC regular season and conference championships title, and advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships as the No. 3 seed in the West Region. The program recently completed its 116^th season posting a 21-8 record in 2017-18, and have combined for 1,485 victories and a .591 winning percentage in program history.

-- @WWUHoops --