LACEY, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team led wire-to-wire and had six players reach double-figures in scoring in a 85-78 road victory over Saint Martin's on Saturday night in Marcus Pavilion.

The Vikings concluded the first half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season with an 8-2 record to sit alone in second place in the standings, and have won 11 of their last 13 games to improve to 13-5 overall. Saint Martin's dropped its 11^th consecutive game to fall to 4-15 overall and 2-8 in GNAC play.

After shooting just 2-for-23 from 3-point range in Thursday's 74-65 loss at first-place Seattle Pacific, the Vikings responded with a 8-for-19 performance from beyond the arc vs. the Saints and shot 52.9% overall from the field (27-for-51).

"I felt like we stayed focused and got a great road win tonight against a very talented team," said WWU head coach Tony Dominguez. "I was excited to see everyone contribute the way they did tonight, with players coming up during different key moments of the game. Overall it was a great team victory and I am very proud of how focused they remained throughout the game to get the W."

Redshirt freshman guard D'Angelo Minnis led the Vikings with 14 points on 5-for-6 shooting, and also contributed 3 rebounds, 3 assists and one steal. Senior forward Trevor Jasinsky added 13 points and 8 rebounds and senior guard Leif Anderson came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points on 3-for-5 shooting, with a trio of 3-pointers.

Senior forward Cam Retherford scored all 11 of his points in the second half before fouling out and sophomore guard/forward Jalen Green also put up 10 points in the second half. Sophomore guard RJ Secrest again filled in the starting lineup and contributed 10 points. Junior forward Luke Lovelady just missed double-digits with 9 points and 5 rebounds. 

WWU was again missing senior starters center Logan Schilder and guard Siaan Rojas due to injury, and WWU played only eight players in the game. But the gutsy team effort resulted in all eight players scoring at least six points while shooing over 50.0% in a game for the eighth time this season.

The Saints were led by a game-high 17 points from guard Alex Schumacher and 16 points off the bench from CJ Jennings. Alex Clinton made 5-of-7 shots from the field and was 4-for-5 from 3-point range.

The Vikings grew its lead to as many as 15 points in the second half going on a 12-3 run, holding a 75-60 advantage over the Saints with 3:15 remaining. SMU cut the deficit to five points by going on a 16-6 run, but WWU went 7-for-7 from the free throw line down the stretch to seal the seven-point victory.

The Vikings led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but settled for a six-point advantage at 43-37 at the half, fueled by 5-for-9 shooting from 3-point range. Luke Lovelady sparked WWU off the bench with 10 points on 2-for-3 shooting, and was 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Leif Anderson connected on all three of his 3-point attempts for 9 points and Trevor Jasinsky was 3-for-6 from the floor for 7 points. WWU used an 8-0 run to pull away from a one possession game to lead 35-35 with 3:54 remaining in the half. Saint Martin's answered with a 12-5 run to cut the WWU lead to 40-37 before Anderson hit his third 3-pointer of the half to extend the lead to six points. 

WWU (13-5, 8-2 GNAC) remains on the road next week opening the second half of conference play at Northwest Nazarene (1/30, 7:30 pm MT) and Central Washington (2/1, 7:15 pm) to open the second half of the GNAC season.

The Vikings improved to 20-5 vs. the Saints since the 2008-09 season and lead the all-time series 135-64. WWU is also 4-1 in its last five trips to play the Saints in Marcus Pavilion.

Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings through the games played on Saturday, with the Vikings closing out the first half of the conference season in 2^nd place with an 8-2 record.

Senior Trevor Jasinsky continues to climb the WWU all-time scoring list, moving into 12^th place in the WWU career scoring record book with 1,350 points in 108 games. Jasinsky is also 6^th in WWU history with 178 career made 3-pointers.

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. WWU is the 12th winningest Division II program with its 1,507 victories.