IRVINE, Calif. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team made a statement on the road defeating No. 23 nationally-ranked Concordia-Irvine 79-72 Friday evening at the Aramark GNAC/PacWest Challenge at CU Arena.
 
WWU (2-2) overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to even its season record at 2-2, using a 54-point second half to record the comeback victory over the Eagles.
 
The Vikings trailed 32-25 at the break, cutting into a double-digit deficit just before halftime, and came out on fire to open the second half, going on a 17-2 run to build a 42-34 lead.
 
Western extended the lead to as many as 14 points following a D'Angelo Minnis layup with 4:04 remaining, and then held off a last-ditch effort by the Eagles (4-2) to record the seven-point victory. WWU scored its final eight points of the game from the free throw line.
 
"This was a good bounceback win for us…we started a little slow, but our guards found the their rhythm near the end of the first half and that really allowed us to make the comeback in the second half," said WWU head coach Tony Dominguez. "We committed to playing better defense tonight and it really helped create some good things on the court. Cam (Retherford) and Trevor (Jasinsky) were huge for us, and I thought our guards, D'Angelo and RJ, did a nice job."
 
Overall the Vikings shot 54.5% from the field (24-for-44), including 14-for-22 (63.6%) in the second half. WWU's dominating final 20 minutes of play included hitting 6-of-7 3-pointers attempted and went 20-for-21 from the free throw line.
 
WWU was led by a game-high 24 points from senior forward Trevor Jasinsky, who scored all but two of his points in the second half. The All-West Region selection was 6-for-11 from the field, including 3-for-6 from long distance, and was perfect at 9-for-9 from the free throw line. Jasinsky also had 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
 
Senior forward Cameron Retherford was a sparkplug off the bench for the Vikings, scoring 17 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. Retherford was 5-for-7 from the field and 3-for-3 from beyond the arc.
 
Redshirt freshman D'Angelo Minnis added 13 points and 3 assists. 
 
WWU's stifling second-half zone defense limited CUI to a 31.6% field goal percentage in the final half (12-for-38), which included 3-for-17 from 3-point range. Overall the Eagles shot 33.3% (23-for-69) from the field and 20.7% from 3-point range (6-for-29). 
 
The Eagles had four players reach double-figures in scoring, led by 15 points each from forward Robert McCoy (5-for-14 FG) and guard Andre Green (5-for-11 FG).
  WWU came out of the halftime break scoring the first five points, with 7-foot center Logan Schilder igniting the rally with an early 3-pointer. The Vikings out-scored the Eagles 17-2 over the first 4:25 of the half to turn the 7-point halftime deficit into a 8-point lead. Trevor Jasinsky capped the extended run with a banked 3-pointer from well beyond the arc.
 
"The second half start was really a carryover to how we ended the first half…as cutting their lead down to seven points was really big," said Dominguez. "We got some confidence, figured a few things out and that helped us go on that extended run."
  The Vikings fended off a pair of lengthy CUI scoring runs in the first half to trail by seven points, 32-25, at the half. The Eagles went on an early 9-0 run to build a 10-point lead at 14-4, but the Vikings answered with an 8-0 run, with all points scored by Retherford, to hang tight and eventually tie the game 16-16 at the 10:46 mark.
 
WWU went over eight minutes without a field goal, and CUI used a 11-0 run to take a 27-16 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the half. The Vikings cut the lead to five points at 30-25 going on a 9-3 run before heading into the break down by seven points. 
 
Retherford led the Vikings with 10 first-half points on 3-for-5 shooting (2-2 FT) and Schilder added 5 points and 4 rebounds. WWU shot 45.5% from the floor (10-for-22), but were 2-for-6 from 3-point range and 3-for-7 from the free throw line. The Vikings 12 first-half turnovers led to 12 points for the Eagles.
  WWU (2-2) faces a quick turnaround with a 2 pm game against Azusa Pacific (3-1) third game of the Aramark GNAC/PacWest Challenge in Irvine, California. APU defeated GNAC member Seattle Pacific 72-57 earlier today. The game will stream live online with links available at WWUVikings.com/Live.
 
"Tomorrow is going to be another tough one, much like the start of our season opponent wise," said Dominguez on playing four regionally-ranked teams in the first five games of the season. "We have a quick turnaround and APU is very good. But we'll hopefully use the momentum gained tonight to get a good performance again tomorrow."
  Fans can follow the men's basketball team online at WWUVikings.com/MBB, and via social media on Twitter (@WWUHoops) and Facebook (@WWUmensbball). You can also get game updates by following the @WWUAthletics Twitter.
  One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, WWU has recorded a 20-win season in eight of the last 11 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 20-win seasons in two of the last three years, 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. WWU is the 12th winningest Division II program with its 1,496 victories (four short of 1,500).