BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team excelled in every facet of the game, recording a dominating 25-point 84-59 victory over Northwest Nazarene University Saturday night on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

The Vikings shot 54.7% from the field (29-for-53) and were 13-for-26 from 3-point range to record the lopsided victory to improve to 8-4 overall and 3-1 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. WWU has now won four consecutive games and six of its last seven. 

WWU used another hot start to put the game away early, building an 18-2 lead in the first five minutes of the game and connecting on seven of the first nine shots from the field (4-for-6 3-pointers). In addition to the solid offensive performance, the Vikings stifling defense forced 17 turnovers (leading to 22 points) and recorded 12 steals.

"I loved our energy and I loved our defense tonight, and I think really lifts us and that is how we have been playing the last month or so," said WWU head coach Tony Dominguez. "We have been working on getting into a rhythm, hitting our benchmarks of denying the three, out-rebounding and making it difficult for them to get easy shots, and the last two or three games we have done a really good job of that."

Redshirt senior guard Siaan Rojas paced the offense with his second career double-double, scoring 15 points on 6-for-8 shooting and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. He also tallied 4 assists and a pair of steals.

M🏀| FINAL

A completely dominant night for the Vikings in Carver. 5 players score in double digits led by Jalen Green's 17pts & Siaan Rojas's 15 point, 11 rebound double-double. Vikings hit 13 3-pointers on the night.

NNU    |  59
WWU  |  84
FINAL#GoViks x #WeAreVikings pic.twitter.com/9OBeUN7FH3
— WWU Athletics (@WWUAthletics) January 5, 2020
 

Sophomore Jalen Green scored a game-high 17 points on 6-for-7 shooting, and just missed a double-double with 7 rebounds. He filled up the stat sheet with 3 assists, 3 steals and a blocked shot.

Five total Vikings reached double-digits in scoring to round out the total team effort, with senior forward Cameron Retherford chipping in 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting and senior center Logan Schilder adding 13 points on 4-for-4 shooting. 

Senior forward Trevor Jasinsky was 3-for-6 from 3-point range in his 10-point performance, moving into 7^th place in WWU history with 170 career 3-pointers made. Redshirt freshman point guardD'Angelo Minnis recorded a game-high 6 assists and also had a pair of steals.

"Pretty much anybody can have a big night for us, and it is nice to see that," added Dominguez.

The Nighthawks (4-5, 1-3 GNAC) were led by 15 points off the bench by guard Ezekiel Alley, who was 7-for-12 from the field. Senior guard Jayden Bezzant added 10 points and 5 assists for NNU.

The Vikings jumped out to another quick start, scoring the first eight points of the game, and building a 18-2 lead hitting seven of their first nine shots, including four 3-pointers. WWU extended the lead to as many as 24 points at 46-22 with 41-seconds remaining in the half and took a 46-25 lead into halftime.Jalen Green led the Vikings with 11 points (3-for-4 FG) and 5 rebounds and Siaan Rojas was 4-for-4 from the field for 9 points. Overall Western shot 60.0% from the field (15-for-25) and were 8-for-15 (53.3%) from 3-point range. NNU was led by 7 points off the bench by Ezekiel Alley and 5 points by Jayden Bezzant. The Nighthawks shot 45.8% (11-for-24) from the field and were 2-for-8 (25.0%) from 3-point range.

Here are some facts and figures from the 25-point victory over the Nighthawks :

·        The Vikings led wire-to-wire, never trailing and leading for 39:49 of the 40-minute game.

·        WWU's largest lead in the game was 36 points at 78-42 with 4:34 remaining in the game.

·        Trevor Jasinsky now has 170 career made 3-pointers in 102 games, 7^th-most in WWU history and 28^th-most in GNAC history.

·        The 23 assists were third-most in a game this season and the most in a conference game since also recording 23 in a 100-56 win over Simon Fraser on Jan. 24, 2017.

·        The 12 steals marked the fourth time this season with double-digits in steals.

·        D'Angelo Minnis set a single-game career-high with 6 assists.

WWU (8-4, 3-1 GNAC) returns to the road for its annual Alaskan road trip, playing Alaska Anchorage on Thursday (Jan. 9, 7:30 pm AKT/8:30 pm PT) and Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday (Jan. 11, 2:15 pm AKT/3:15 pm PT). The games can be followed via live webcast at GNAC.tv.

WWU improved to 33-11 all-time vs. the Nighthawks, bouncing back from a pair of losses to NNU last season. Dating back to the 2011-12 season, the Vikings are 14-3 in the head-to-head series.

Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings through the first two weeks of the conference season:

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 1,502 victories.