ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Western Washington University men's basketball team put together one of its most complete games of the season, going on the road to defeat Alaska Anchorage 76-66 Thursday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play at the Alaska Airlines Center.
WWU junior Trevor Jasinsky (Camas, WA) led a balanced team effort with 14 points and reached the 1,000-point milestone in his career. Senior guard Tyler Payne (Long Beach, CA/Cerritos College) added 14 points as the Vikings had five players with at least 9 points.
The Vikings had dropped five of their last six, but with the victory evened their season record at 13-13 and remain in the postseason picture with a 7-9 record in GNAC play. UAA dropped to 13-12 overall and remain just ahead of WWU in the conference standings at 8-9 in league play.
UAA (8-9), Montana State Billings (8-9), Simon Fraser (7-9) and WWU (7-9) are in a fight for the final two spots in the GNAC Championships that will be played March 7-9 in Bellingham.
In addition to the big games by Jasinsky and Payne, junior forward KJ Bosco (Portland, OR/Portland CC) came off the bench to contribute 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 22 minutes. Junior guard Tucker Eenigenburg (Bakersfield, CA/Bakersfield College) added 11 points with three big 3-pointers. Junior guard Leif Anderson (Bellingham, WA/Sehome/Whatcom CC) had 9 points and 3 assists.
Overall the Vikings shot 41.7% from the field (25-for-60), and were 11-for-26 from 3-point range (42.3%) and 15-for-20 from the free throw line (75.0%). WWU's bench out-scored UAA's reserves 31-8 and the Vikings held a 20-12 advantage in points in the paint.
The Seawolves were led by a game-high 31 points from Tyler Brimhall, who went 11-for-24 from the field (6-for-13 3FG). Brian Pearson added 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting, but UAA was limited to 36.5% shooting (23-for-63).
UAA led by as many as 8 points early in the first half, but the Vikings used a 21-5 run over a seven-minute stretch to turn a six-point deficit into a 10-point lead. UAA ended the first half on a 5-0 run, and scored the first basket of the second half to trim WWU's lead to three points (34-31), but the Vikings never trailed after taking the lead at the 5:37 mark in the first half.
PULLING AWAY IN THE SECOND HALF
The Vikings grew their lead to as many as 16 points in the second half, with a 15-6 run early in the half proving to be a difference maker. WWU also had an 11-4 run pulling away from a 55-46 lead to grow the margin to a game-high 16 points with 3:33 left in the game.
JASINSKY HITS 1,000 CAREER POINT MILESTONE
Trevor Jasinsky reached the 1,000 point milestone in his career with a layup and a free throw at the 8:50 mark in the first half. Jasinsky became the 26th player in WWU men's basketball history to reach the 1,000 career point milestone. Jasinsky is now tied for 24th in program history with 1,008 points in 86 career games.
|
WWU ALL-TIME LEADING SCORERS
(sorted by total points scored)
|
|
Rk
|
Player
|
Points
|
G
|
Avg.
|
|
1.
|
Jeffrey Parker (2013-17)
|
1,867
|
121
|
15.4
|
|
2.
|
Grant Dykstra (2002-06)
|
1,844
|
113
|
16.3
|
|
3.
|
Ryan Diggs (2002-06)
|
1,783
|
109
|
16.4
|
|
4.
|
Jared Stevenson (1996-2000)
|
1,728
|
106
|
16.3
|
|
5.
|
Mike Palm (1999-2003)
|
1,649
|
111
|
14.9
|
|
6.
|
Manny Kimmie (1986-1990)
|
1,624
|
126
|
12.9
|
|
7.
|
Harold Doyal (1991-95)
|
1,571
|
117
|
13.4
|
|
8.
|
John Allen (2010-13)
|
1,480
|
96
|
15.4
|
|
9.
|
Ira Graham (2004-05, 2006-09)
|
1,465
|
91
|
16.1
|
|
|
Jeff Dick (1990-94)
|
1,465
|
114
|
12.9
|
|
11.
|
Mike Franza (1969-73)
|
1,436
|
90
|
16.0
|
|
12.
|
Tim Dickerson (1984-88)
|
1,347
|
123
|
11.0
|
|
13.
|
Jacob Stevenson (1998-2002)
|
1,320
|
1320
|
12.5
|
|
14.
|
Kevin Bryant (1976-1980)
|
1,310
|
109
|
12.0
|
|
15.
|
Rory Blanche (2008-12)
|
1,273
|
109
|
11.7
|
|
16.
|
Richard Woodworth (2009-14)
|
1,262
|
123
|
10.3
|
|
17.
|
Shelton Diggs (1998-2002)
|
1,251
|
109
|
11.5
|
|
18.
|
A.J. Geisa (1998-2002)
|
1,189
|
109
|
10.9
|
|
19.
|
Mike Clayton (1966-70)
|
1,093
|
89
|
12.3
|
|
20.
|
Stan Peterson (1947-51)
|
1,084
|
93
|
11.7
|
|
21.
|
Jason Burrell (2000-04)
|
1,032
|
102
|
10.1
|
|
22.
|
James Johnson (1986-88)
|
1,026
|
71
|
14.5
|
|
23.
|
Rob Visser (1973-76)
|
1,024
|
78
|
13.1
|
|
24.
|
Trevor Jasinsky (2016-current)
|
1,008
|
86
|
11.7
|
|
|
Dwayne Kirkley (1992-94)
|
1,008
|
62
|
16.3
|
|
26.
|
Jim Adams (1960-63)
|
1,007
|
77
|
13.1
|
The Vikings (13-13, 7-9) remain on the road facing Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday at 2 pm AKT/3 pm PT. The game vs. the Nanooks will stream live via GNAC.tv. WWU closes out the 2018-19 regular season next week with home games against Western Oregon (Feb. 28) and Concordia (March 2), with both games tipping off at 7 pm in Carver Gym.
|
WWU Box Score
|
FG
|
3-Pt
|
FT
|
Reb
|
|
|
##
|
Player
|
|
fgm-fga
|
fgm-fga
|
ftm-fta
|
off-def
|
tot
|
pf
|
tp
|
a
|
to
|
blk
|
stl
|
min
|
|
24
|
Jasinsky,Trevor
|
f
|
4-10
|
0-5
|
6-7
|
0-5
|
5
|
2
|
14
|
4
|
4
|
0
|
0
|
35
|
|
25
|
Retherford,Cameron
|
f
|
2-6
|
0-2
|
2-3
|
1-5
|
6
|
3
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
0
|
1
|
31
|
|
1
|
Payne,Tyler
|
g
|
4-10
|
3-5
|
3-4
|
0-4
|
4
|
3
|
14
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
25
|
|
13
|
Anderson,Leif
|
g
|
2-5
|
1-3
|
4-6
|
0-1
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
3
|
0
|
1
|
3
|
31
|
|
20
|
Green,Jalen
|
g
|
1-3
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
2-1
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
18
|
|
3
|
Eenigenburg,Tucker
|
-
|
4-10
|
3-4
|
0-0
|
0-1
|
1
|
2
|
11
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
15
|
|
4
|
Secrest,RJ
|
-
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
1-1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
4
|
|
5
|
Bosco,KJ
|
-
|
5-8
|
2-3
|
0-0
|
4-3
|
7
|
1
|
12
|
3
|
0
|
0
|
1
|
22
|
|
11
|
Cotton-Welch,Elijah
|
-
|
1-3
|
1-2
|
0-0
|
1-0
|
1
|
0
|
3
|
1
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
5
|
|
23
|
Ahlemeyer,Braden
|
-
|
1-3
|
0-0
|
0-0
|
1-2
|
3
|
1
|
2
|
0
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
10
|
|
35
|
Winn,Micah
|
-
|
1-2
|
1-2
|
0-0
|
0-1
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
1
|
4
|
|
Team Totals……………..
|
-
|
25-60
|
11-26
|
15-20
|
13-25
|
38
|
17
|
76
|
17
|
10
|
4
|
8
|
200
|
|
WWU Leader
|
41.7%
|
42.3%
|
75.0%
|
|
|
Score by Half
|
1st
|
2nd
|
Total
|
|
Western Washington (13-13 7-9)
|
34
|
42
|
76
|
|
Alaska Anchorage (13-12, 8-9)
|
29
|
37
|
66
|
The Vikings and Seawolves split the season series, with each team winning on the road (UAA won 70-63 in Bellingham)…WWU has won 5 of the last 7 meetings vs. UAA and is 7-6 over the last 13 games…Vikings lead the all-time series 22-17, including 9-10 in Anchorage…now 6-3 in last 9 trips to Anchorage and 2-3 at the Alaska Airlines Center (vs. UAA) since it debuted in 2014-15 (won back-to-back trips to Anchorage).
Here is a look at the updated GNAC standings through Thursday's games:
|
MEN'S BASKETBALL
|
CONF
|
PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
1.
|
Saint Martin's*
|
14-3
|
.824
|
21-4
|
.840
|
11-1
|
8-3
|
2-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
2.
|
Seattle Pacific*
|
14-4
|
.778
|
17-6
|
.739
|
11-1
|
6-3
|
0-2
|
Won 8
|
|
3.
|
Northwest Nazarene*
|
13-4
|
.764
|
18-5
|
.782
|
10-0
|
6-5
|
2-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
4.
|
Western Oregon
|
11-6
|
.647
|
18-8
|
.692
|
12-1
|
4-6
|
2-1
|
Won 1
|
|
5.
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
8-9
|
.471
|
13-12
|
.520
|
8-5
|
5-7
|
0-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
|
Montana State Billings
|
8-9
|
.471
|
13-12
|
.520
|
12-4
|
1-7
|
0-1
|
Lost 1
|
|
7.
|
Western Washington
|
7-9
|
.438
|
13-13
|
.500
|
7-4
|
3-6
|
3-3
|
Won 1
|
|
|
Simon Fraser
|
7-9
|
.438
|
13-11
|
.542
|
10-3
|
3-7
|
0-1
|
Won 1
|
|
9.
|
Central Washington
|
5-12
|
.294
|
11-14
|
.440
|
6-5
|
2-9
|
2-1
|
Won 1
|
|
10.
|
Concordia
|
4-13
|
.235
|
9-16
|
.360
|
4-9
|
3-7
|
2-0
|
Lost 3
|
|
11.
|
Alaska
|
2-15
|
.118
|
5-19
|
.208
|
1-7
|
1-11
|
3-1
|
Lost 5
|
|
* Qualified for GNAC Championships March 7-9 in Bellingham
|
Here are the scores from the four additional GNAC games played across the conference footprint on Thursday:
|
Around the GNAC (2/21/19)
|
|
Western Oregon
|
81
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
66
|
|
Seattle Pacific
|
76
|
Montana State Billings
|
67
|
|
Central Washington
|
79
|
Concordia
|
73
|
|
Western Washington
|
76
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
66
|
|
Simon Fraser
|
71
|
Alaska Fairbanks
|
66
|
|
Home team in bold
|
WWU will serve as the host for the 2019 GNAC Basketball 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. Tickets are now on sale for the GNAC Basketball Championships via GNACHoopTickets.com.
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 116th season posting a 21-8 record in 2017-18, and have combined for 1,492 victories and a .591 winning percentage in program history.
-- @WWUHoops --
