BURNABY, BC – Despite getting off to a slow start, the Western Washington University men's basketball team battled back to hold a late second-half lead, but could not complete the comeback in a 77-74 loss Tuesday night vs. Simon Fraser University in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener in West Gym.
WWU trailed 15-2 in the first six minutes of the game, but staged a gigantic comeback to secure a late second-half lead. The Vikings led 74-72 with 2:19 remaining in the game following a driving layup by senior Trevor Jasinsky, but were held scoreless the remainder of the game in the three-point loss.
The Vikings fall to 4-4 overall and 0-1 in GNAC play, while Simon Fraser improves to 6-1, 1-0 with its sixth consecutive victory.
Jasinsky finished with a game-high 22 points on 8-for-16 shooting and sophomore guard RJ Secrest contributed a career-high 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting and went 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard/forward Jalen Green added 13 points on 4-for-7 shooting and had 4 blocks and 5 rebounds.
All five Simon Fraser starters reached double-figures in scoring, with Jasdeep Singh scoring 21 points on 9-for-15 shooting and grabbing 8 rebounds. Despite battling early foul trouble, sophomore guard Wilfried Balata scored 17 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
Despite the early deficit, the Vikings battled all game and eventually broke through to take a three-point lead midway through the second half. A 10-0 early-second half run fueled the comeback, but Simon Fraser didn't back down and took the lead right back.
SFU took a 75-74 lead with 39-seconds remaining on a layup by Singh, and WWU had a pair of attempts to pull ahead in the last 30 seconds of the game, but fell short of the comeback victory. SFU point guard Othniel Spence helped secure the victory with a pair of free throws and Leif Anderson'slast-second 3-pointer attempt to tie the game hit off the front of the rim.
Senior co-captain Siaan Rojas made his season debut after missing the first seven games of the season with a foot injury…Jalen Green tied his career-high with 4 blocked shots, originally set in his last game vs. Langara…Trevor Jasinsky recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season and 22ndof his career…Jasinsky now has scored 1,228 points in his career to rank 18th in program history…also made 162 career 3-pointers to rank 8th in WWU history and 29th in GNAC history…RJ Secrestscored a career-high 14 points with his previous high of 11 points vs. Western Oregon (2/28/19)…WWU shot 51.6% from the field in the second half (16-for-31) compared to 38.5% in the first half (10-for-26)…the Vikings played without senior guard Tucker Eenigenburg for the second straight game after he sprained his ankle vs. Colorado Christian in last Friday's game…the game featured 10 lead changes, all in the second half, and five tie scores…SFU's five starters accounted for 73 of the 77 points in the game.
The Vikings started off slow trailing 15-2 six minutes into the game, but headed up over the final 10 minutes out-scoring SFU 18-11 to close to within six points at 37-31 at halftime. Trevor Jasinsky led the Vikings with 10 first-half points, shooting 4-for-9 from the field and RJ Secrest provided a spark off the bench with 7 points in 12 minutes of action. WWU was out-rebounded 22-14, including 6-0 in offensive boards, in the first 20 minutes of play. Jasdeep Singh and Michael Provenzano both scored 9 points to lead SFU, with Julian Roche, Othniel Spence and Wilfried Balata each contributing 6 points. Balata was limited to 6 minutes after drawing three quick fouls.
WWU (4-4) continues its opening week of GNAC play hosting Montana State Billings in Carver Gym on Saturday at 3 pm. The game can be followed via live webcast at GNAC.tv.
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 1,498 victories (2 short of 1,500).
