Men's Basketball | 12/31/2018 5:21:00 PM

BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team returns to action this week hosting a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference contests on WECU Court inside Carver Gymnasium.

The Vikings (7-5 overall, 1-1 GNAC) host Seattle Pacific University (4-3, 1-1) on Thursday (Jan. 3) and nationally-ranked Saint Martin's University (9-1, 2-0) on Saturday (Jan. 5) with both games featuring a 7 pm tip-off on the WWU campus. 

WWU enters the 2019 portion of the schedule having dropped four of its last five games, but its tied for fourth place in the conference standings with a 1-1 mark. The games vs. the Falcons and Saints mark just the fourth and fifth home game of the season for the Vikings and the first in GNAC play.

All GNAC games, home and road, will stream live and feature live statistical updates at GNAC.tv, with home games also streamed live on YouTube…in addition to being available online, all conference matches are available via the GNAC channel on Roku, Apple TV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV…live links can be accessed through WWUVikings.com/Live.

Single-game tickets can be purchased in advance of the day of the game via WWUVikings.com/Tickets…general admission tickets are $10 for adults, with student/senior (60+)/WWU Faculty & Staff $5…reserved seats are $15 if they are available…the Carver Gym Box Office opens one hour prior to tip-off…advance tickets can also be purchased at the PAC Box Office on the WWU campus located at the Performing Arts Center and can be reached  via (360) 650-BLUE (2583).

WWU is 3-0 in Carver Gym this season and have 10 remaining regular-season home games on WECU Court in 2018-19…WWU is 559-165 (.772) all-time in Carver Gym, including a 11-5 record last season, with head coach Tony Dominguez leading WWU to a 58-8 (.879) record in the on-campus facility.

·      Seattle Pacific » SPU is 4-3 on the season and 1-1 in GNAC play…coming off a 76-59 victory at Concordia-Irvine on Dec. 18…had early-season tournament at Chico State cancelled due to the wild fires in Northern California…led by Gavin Long who is averaging 15.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game…the Falcons are shooting 49.5% from the field to rank 2^nd in the GNAC…Series History: SPU leads the series 84-55, but WWU has taken three of the last four…went 1-1 vs. SPU last season, with each team winning on the road…beat the Falcons 86-80 on Dec. 28, 2017 in Brougham Pavilion and were dealt a 92-88 defeat on Jan. 27, 2018 in Carver Gym…WWU is 6-3 in last 9 home games vs. the Falcons.

·      Saint Martin's » The Saints are 9-1 overall and 2-0 in GNAC play heading into their Thursday game at Simon Fraser…ranked No. 11 (D2SIDA Media Poll) and No. 21 (NABC) in the current national polls…have a current 7-game winning streak…only defeat this season was to nationally-ranked UC San Diego…have four players averaging double figures in points, led by 12.2 points per game from EJ Boyce…preseason GNAC Player of the Year Luke Chavez is averaging 10.8 points per game…Series History: WWU leads the all-time series 133-63…Saint Martin's has won the last two meetings, including a 69-68 win over the Vikings in the 2018 GNAC Championships Semifinal in Anchorage…WWU has won 16 of the last 20 in the series dating back to 2010, but is 4-3 over the last 7 meetings.

The Vikings have played one of the toughest schedules in the nation this season, facing three ranked opponents…according to NCAA Stats, the WWU has played the 5^th-toughest schedule to date with a past opposition winning percentage of .687 (68-31)…WWU faces another ranked opponent this week when No. 21/11 Saint Martin's (9-1, 2-0 GNAC) visits Bellingham.

After playing only three games in Carver Gym in the first 12 games of the season, the Vikings will play six of their next eight games (and 8 of next 12) in Bellingham…host Seattle Pacific and Saint Martin's this week, then take to the road to face Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 10 in Nampa, Idaho and Central Washington on Jan. 12 in Ellensburg…WWU will then play a season-high four consecutive home games beginning with a Tuesday tilt (Jan. 15) vs. Simon Fraser.

The Vikings went 0-3 during the Hoops in Hawai'i D2 Power Invitational Dec. 16-18 in Honolulu…WWU dropped games to No. 20 Chaminade (74-66), No. 11 Southern Nazarene (85-72) and Emmanuel College…Trevor Jasinsky led Western averaging 16.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game during the tournament…Luke Lovelady also averaged 12.3 points and 7.7 rebounds per game and freshman Jalen Green checked in averaging 10.7 points per game…the Vikings shot 38.7% in the three games, well below the season mark of 46.0 for the season, and were 20-for-74 (27.0) from 3-point range…WWU averaged 71.3 points per game after entering the tournament averaging 95.7 points per game.

Junior forward Trevor Jasinsky leads the team and ranks 2^nd in the GNAC averaging 19.3 points per game…also listed amongst conference leaders in rebounding (4^th, 7.2 rpg), free throw percentage (4^th, 88.0)…has started all 12 games and is 2^nd in the league averaging 32.2 minutes per game…recently made his 100^thcareer 3-pointer to become the 20^th player in program history to reach the 100-3-point milestone…has scored in double-digits in 11 of 12 games and leads the conference with six 20-point games.

Sophomore forward Luke Lovelady is 3^rd on the team averaging 10.9 points per game and is the 2^nd-leading rebounder with 5.9 boards per game…has scored in double-digits in six games (4 of last 5) and has a pair of double-doubles…the transfer from Point Loma ranks 2^nd in the GNAC with a 69.9 field goal percentage, connecting on 51 of 73 shots.

Freshman guard/forward Jalen Green has scored in double figures in three of his last four games, averaging 12.25 points per game during the stretch…scored a season/career-high 17 points vs. Columbia Bible College and scored 13 points against nationally-ranked Southern Nazarene…overall has appeared in all 12 games this season and is averaging 7.4 points per game and is shooting 50.0% from the field (38-for-76).

The Vikings were without the services of junior starting forward Cameron Retherford in the three games in Hawai'i due to injury…Retherford has started seven games this season (appeared in 9) and is expected back for the upcoming GNAC games…senior co-captain Siaan Rojas has played in just two games this season and is likely out for the remainder of the season with a foot injury.

Here is a team-by-team statistical look at the GNAC (sorted alphabetically):

Here is a look at the GNAC standings heading into the first week of action in 2019:

Trevor Jasinsky passed the century mark for career made 3-pointers against Chaminade on Dec. 16, becoming the 20^th player in program history to hit that milestone…in 72 career games Jasinsky is 102-for-272 (37.5%) from beyond the arc, including 26-for-77 (33.8%) this season…here is a look at the top 3-point shooters in program history:

WWU leads the GNAC and ranks 10^th in the nation with a 1.60 assist-to-turnover ratio…has dished out 201 assists (16.8 per game) and committed 126 turnovers for an 10.5 turnover per game average (2^nd-fewest in the GNAC).

The Vikings lead the GNAC and rank 24^th in NCAA Division II with 77.4% accuracy from the free throw line, connecting on 185-of-239 shots from the charity stripe…WWU shot 77.4% from the line last season (496-for-641) and 78.3% in 2016-17 (564-for-720)…over the last three seasons WWU has combined to shoot 77.8% from the free throw line (1245-for-1600).

Junior guard Tucker Eenigenburg entered the GNAC record books with his shooting performance in a 28-point effort on Nov. 24 vs. Langara College…Eenigenburg was 10-for-11 from the field and 8-for-9 from 3-point range…the 3-point performance tied the GNAC single-game record of 3-pointers made with one miss, equaling the mark set by Central Washington's Robert Hicks against Humboldt State on Jan, 6, 2006, and tied by Western Oregon's Demetrius Trammell against Fresno Pacific on Nov. 11, 2017…Tucker hit his last five 3-pointer attempts in the game, two short of the school-record seven straight by John Allen set vs. Alaska Anchorage in 2011…in 12 games this season Eenigenburg is averaging 8.0 points per game and is 22-for-45 (48.9%) from 3-point range.

WWU also leads the GNAC and is 24^th in NCAA II averaging 40.6 rebounds per game…out-rebounded opponents in 8 of 12 games…also listed 4^th in the conference with a 4.1 rebound margin.

Including the first two games this season, the Vikings have combined for a 34-8 record in GNAC play over the last three seasons, winning the regular-season and tournament titles in 2016-17 and finishing 2^nd last season…seventh-year head coach Tony Dominguez owns an 84-32 (.724) record in conference play.

Junior forward Trevor Jasinsky was selected as the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week for the opening week of the 2018-19 season…the 6-7 forward out of Camas High School scored 55 points in WWU's opening two games of the 2018-19 season…he averaged 27.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 blocks per game, while playing 75 of 80 minutes in the two games…also selected to the five-player CCAA/GNAC Challenge All-Tournament Team…scored a career-high 32 points in the season-opening 84-78 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills (8-15 FG, 3-7 3FG, 13-13 FT), including 10 of the Vikings final 12 points in the 6-point victory…he backed that performance up with a 23-point, 5-rebound, 8-assist effort vs. UC San Diego.

The WWU men's basketball program is 14 wins short of 1,500 in program history, which dates back to 1903 (1486-1029)…WWU has a string of 11 consecutive winning seasons entering the 2018-19 season, combining to go 249-96 (.722) during this stretch dating back to the 2007-08 season.

The Vikings feature a new-look team for 2018-19, with five letterwinners returning from last year's team that finished 21-8 overall and 16-4 in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference…junior forward Trevor Jasinsky (Camas, WA) and senior guard Siaan Rojas (Concord, CA/Santa Rosa JC) were both named to the GNAC Preseason All-Conference team as unanimous selections…Jasinsky is WWU's top returning scorer after averaging 10.1 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, while Rojas was WWU's sixth man last season, playing in all 29 games (one start), contributing 8.9 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game…senior co-captain guard Tyler Payne (Long Beach, CA/La Mirada/Cerritos College) appeared in 15 games as a backup point guard last season…senior 7-foot senior center Logan Schilder (Bellingham, WA/Whatcom CC) averaged 7.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 28 games last season, but is expected to utilize his redshirt season in 2018-19.

A host of exciting newcomers dot the Vikings 15-player roster…redshirt junior guards Leif Anderson (Bellingham, WA/Sehome), Micah Winn (Los Angeles, CA/Crenshaw/Cerritos College) and Elijah Cotton-Welch (Tacoma, WA/Wilson/Lower Columbia College), redshirt freshman guard RJ Secrest (Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap), junior college transfer forward Cameron Retherford (Portland, OR/Benson/Portland CC), sophomore forward transfer Luke Lovelady (Tacoma, WA/Life Christian/Point Loma), true freshman forwardJalen Green (F/G, Renton, WA/Lindbergh) and junior transfer guard Tucker Eenigenburg (Bakersfield, CA/Stockdale/Bakersfield College) are all new to the program and saw significant minutes during the preseason exhibition games…junior college transfer forward KJ Bosco (Portland, OR/Benson/Portland CC) did not see action in the preseason…true freshman point guard D'Angelo Minnis (Covington, WA/Kentwood) is a redshirt candidate for the 2018-19 season.

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. 

The Vikings entered the season ranked No. 4 in the annual Great Northwest Athletic Conference Preseason Men's Basketball Poll, receiving 83 points in the vote of the conference's 11 head coaches…trails preseason favorite Saint Martin's (118 points), second-place Seattle Pacific (105 points) and third-place Western Oregon (94 points)...WWU opens the conference season Nov. 29 at Concordia in Portland.

The Vikings together another impressive season in 2017-18 finishing with a 21-8 overall record and a second-place finish in the GNAC at 16-4…WWU led the conference in scoring at 83.4 points per game, ranked 4th in NCAA Division II with 6.0 blocks per game and 13th nationally with a .774 free-throw percentage…marked the sixth 20-win season over the last seven seasons.

Head coach Tony Dominguez is in his seventh season at the helm of the program, and 24^th overall at WWU, leading the Vikings to a 140-56 record (.714)…over the last three seasons (2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19) WWU has combined for a 53-19 record and carries a streak of 11 consecutive winning seasons into the 2018-19 campaign…he is assisted by David Dunham (third season), Bob Hofstetter (6^th season) and Atiavo Jude(6^th season).

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 1,486 victories and a .591 winning percentage in program history.

-- @WWUHoops --