BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with a pair of games this week. 

 

WWU crosses the border on Tuesday for a 7:30 pm game vs. Simon Fraser (5-1) in West Gym and then hosts Montana State Billings on Saturday in Carver Gym with tip-off at 3 pm on WECU Court.

 

The Vikings are 4-3 on the season coming off a pair of lopsided victories in the Chuck Randall Classic and enter the conference season as the preseason favorites to win the GNAC. Having played an extremely tough schedule to this point, the Vikings are listed No. 10 in this week's DII West Region Men's Basketball Media Poll.

 

WWU is averaging 80.9 points per game to rank 3^rd in the GNAC and are 5^th in the league with a 45.5 field goal percentage and 2^nd from beyond the arc (39.1%/68-for-174). The Vikings defense is 2^nd in the GNAC holding opponents to a 43.3% and 6^th with teams averaging 76.0 points per game.

 

Senior forward Trevor Jasinsky leads the Vikings and ranks 3^rd in the conference averaging 18.7 points per game. Jasinsky, WWU's 18^th-ranked all-time leading scorer with 1,206 career points, has scored in double-digits in six of seven games this season. 

 

Redshirt freshman point guard D'Angelo Minnis is averaging 12.4 points and 3.1 assists per game, and is coming off tournament MVP performance in the Chuck Randall Classic scoring 38 points in two games last week.

 

The Vikings open GNAC play this week with a road game on Tuesday at Simon Fraser (7:30 pm) and then return to Carver Gym hosting Montana State Billings on Saturday (3:00 pm). All conference games will stream live and feature live statistical updates via GNAC.tv.

 

 

The Vikings have three games remaining this decade, and what a decade it has been. Since January 1, 2010, the Vikings have recorded a 213-90 record for a .703 winning percentage and won the 2011-12 NCAA Division II National Championship.

 

The Vikings will play a pair of doubleheaders with their WWU basketball counterparts this week on the road at Simon Fraser on Tuesday and in Carver Gym on Saturday vs. Montana State Billings. The men's team will play the 7:30 pm game on Tuesday (women at 5:15 pm) and then the 3:00 pm game on Saturday (women at 7:00 pm).

 

Here are some tidbits on the WWU Men's Basketball team heading into the GNAC opening week:

 

• Scoring Offense  averaging 80.9 points per game.GNACin the  ^rd– 3
• Charity Stripe Success in the conference with a 75.2 FT% (112-for-149). ^th– 4
• Sharp Shooters  hitting 68-of-174 3-point FG attempts (39.1%).GNACin the  ^nd– 2
• Top Scorer  averaging 18.7 points per game.GNACin the  ^rdranks 3Trevor Jasinsky  –
• Points & Boards with 3.0 offensive rebounds per game. ^th averaging 1.6 blocked shots per game and is 4GNACis averaging 11.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game…leads the Jalen Green  –
• Efficient  shooting 63.9% from the field (23-for-36).GNACin the  ^this 4Logan Schilder  –
• Dishing it Out in the conference averaging 4.0 assists/game. ^thleads the team and ranks 5Trevor Jasinsky  – In addition to averaging 18.7 points/game,
• Cracking the Top 30 is 168). ^thin WWU history in made 3-pointers (7 ^th history with 160 made 3-pointers…ranks 8GNACall-time in  ^this tied for 30Trevor Jasinsky  –
• Tough Schedule – WWU is listed as having one of the top 20 toughest schedules in the nation.
• Preseason Favorites  Preseason Poll gathering 112 points and 6 of the 11 first-place votes.GNAC– Topped the
• 1,500 Wins – WWU is two wins short of 1,500 in program history (1498-1042/.590).

 

Here is a look at WWU in the all-time series vs. Simon Fraser and Montana State Billings:

 

• vs. Simon Fraser – Split the season series vs. SFU last season, winning 89-81 at home and falling 76-73 late in the season on the road…WWU leads the all-time series 58-25 with a 8-1 record over the last 9 meetings dating back to 2015.
• vs. Montana State Billings – MSUB swept the season series last year with the Vikings falling 81-72 in overtime at home and 94-90 on the road…WWU leads the all-time series 23-8.

 

Here is a statistical look at the teams in the GNAC heading into games this week:

 

 

Senior forward Trevor Jasinsky collected his second career GNAC Player of the Week award earning the honor for games played Nov. 11-17. Jasinsky averaged 26.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game over three games and shot an impressive 89.4 percent from the free throw line. He opened the week with 24 points and 4 rebounds in an 86-65 loss to Cal Poly Pomona. He made 12-of-15 free throws in the game. He followed with 24 points and 8 rebounds in Friday's 79-72 win over Concordia-Irvine, making 6-for-11 from the field and all nine free throws. Jasinsky closed the week with 30 points and 6 rebounds in a 90-80 loss to Azusa Pacific on Saturday, going 7-for-15 from the field and 13-for-14 from the free throw line.

 

Tickets for all of WWU's home games can be purchased online in advance by visitingWWUVikings.com/MBB_Tickets. The box office in Carver Gym will also open one hour prior to tip-off for each home game.

 

Trevor Jasinsky has scored 1,206 points while appearing in all 97 games of his WWU career to rank 18^th in program history in points scored. He is also 8^th with 160 career made 3-pointers and among the leaders with a .855 free throw percentage (306-for-358). The 6-8 senior forward has not missed a game in his WWU career.

 

 

Senior center Logan Schilder became the ninth player in program history and 18^th in the GNAC to record 100 career blocked shots. The 7-footer is currently tied for 7^th in WWU history with 107 blocks and 13^th in GNAC history averaging 1.65 blocked shots per game (107 blocks, 65 G). Here is a look at WWU's all-time blocked shot leaders:

 

 

Fans can watch all WWU home games, most GNAC road games, and a handful of non-conference road games not only on their phone, computer or tablet, but also on a big-screen television. All games that stream on GNAC.tv are also easily viewed on Roku players, AppleTV, Android TV and Amazon Fire TV (just search for GNAC). WWU's home games also stream onYouTube for a great viewing experience with rewind capability. 

 

The Vikings are scheduled to play 28 regular-season games, with eight non-conference games and the 20-game Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule. WWU will complete in three tournaments during the season, beginning with the GNAC/CCAA Challenge hosting Simon Fraser, Cal State Dominguez Hills and UC San Diego in Carver Gym during the opening weekend of the season. Western will travel to play in the Aramark GNAC/PacWest Challenge in Irvine, California, playing tournament host Concordia-Irvine and Azusa Pacific Nov. 15-16. Carver Gym will also play host to the annual Chuck Randall Classic Nov. 29-30 with Colorado Christian, Langara College and SFU in the four-team tournament. The first GNAC contest is Dec. 3 when the Vikings cross the border to play at Simon Fraser in West Gym.

 

Head coach Tony Dominguez is in his eighth season at the helm of the program, and 25th overall at WWU. Dominguez has led the Vikings to a 152-69 record (.688) and was the 2016-17 GNAC Coach of the Year. He is assisted by David Dunham (4th season), Bob Hofstetter (7th season), Atiavo Jude(7th season) and Director of Basketball Operations Jonathan Kim.

 

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 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 1,498 victories (2 short of 1,500).