MONMOUTH, Ore. – Despite a game-high 19 points from senior guard Siaan Rojas and another double-double from senior center Logan Schilder, the Western Washington University men's basketball team fell to Western Oregon 89-72 Thursday night in the New PE Building Gym.
In a battle of the top two highest-scoring teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, it was Western Oregon that pulled out the 17-point victory to split the season series.
WWU has dropped five of its last seven games to fall to 14-9 overall and is in a four-way tie for 2ndplace in the GNAC with a 9-6 conference record. Western Oregon has won five of its last six to improve to 15-6 overall and pulled even with the Vikings in the conference standings at 9-6.
Playing shorthanded without starting point guard D'Angelo Minnis who missed his first game of the season with illness, the Vikings used their eighth different starting lineup this season. Western Oregon used an early barrage of 3-point baskets to pull ahead and pulled away with a 49-point second half.
Rojas filled up the stat sheet scoring a game-high 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting and was 6-for-8 from the free throw line. He added 8 points and 5 assists. Schilder recorded his second straight double-double with 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds, connecting on 5-of-10 shots in the game. He added 3 blocked shots giving him 15 over the last three games.
Western Oregon used a balanced scoring attack that featured five players scoring in double-figures. Dalven Brushier led the Wolves with 17 points on 4-for-11 shooting and John Morrill-Keller added 16 points on 7-for-10 shooting. WOU shot 44.1% for the game (30-for-68) and was 9-for-22 from 3-point range.
The Vikings connected on 40.3% of their shots (25-for-62), but were held to 5-for-20 from 3-point range (25.0%). WWU held a slight 39-38 edge in rebounding and had a 40-34 advantage in points in the paint. WOU capitalized on 20 WWU turnovers, leading to 21 points. Entering the game as one of the top shot blocking teams in the nation, WWU blocked 9 shots, tied for 3rd-most in a game this season.
WWU pulled to within five points at 56-51 following a three-point play by Trevor Jasinsky with 13:34 remaining in the second half. That's when Western Oregon answered with a 19-8 run to put the game way taking a 75-59 lead.
The Vikings battled back from a pair of double-digit point deficits to trail by eight points 40-32 at the half. After trailing 22-12 following a hot shooting start by the Wolves, the Vikings went on a 16-5 run to pull ahead 28-27 on a dunk by Cameron Retherford with 7:24 remaining in the first half. WOU answered going on a 13-2 run to grow the lead back to double-digits at 40-30 before the Vikings scored the final basket of the half. Leif Anderson led the Vikings with 9 points off the bench, including a pair of 3-pointers, and Logan Schilder and Siaan Rojas each contributed 8 points.
WWU (14-9, 9-6 GNAC) remain on the road in Oregon to face Concordia (3-20, 2-13 GNAC) in Portland on Saturday at 6:15 pm on LCEF Court. WWU is 4-6 on the road this season, including a 3-5 mark in conference play.
SERIES HISTORY VS. WESTERN OREGON
Defeated WOU in overtime 86-79 on Jan. 18 in Carver Gym…Vikings have won 8 of last 13 games vs. the Wolves dating back to 2014-15…WWU leads the all-time series 48-20…dropped last two trips to Monmouth, including 96-88 double-overtime thriller last season.
Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings through the games played on Thursday, with the Vikings now in a four-way tie for 2nd place in the conference at 9-6 in GNAC play.
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MEN'S BASKETBALL
|
CONF
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PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
1.
|
Seattle Pacific*+
|
15-1
|
.938
|
19-5
|
.792
|
9-3
|
10-1
|
0-1
|
Won 5
|
|
2.
|
Western Oregon
|
9-6
|
.600
|
15-6
|
.714
|
7-2
|
5-4
|
3-0
|
Won 2
|
|
|
Western Washington
|
9-6
|
.600
|
14-9
|
.609
|
10-3
|
4-5
|
0-1
|
Lost 1
|
|
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
9-6
|
.600
|
12-8
|
.600
|
8-3
|
4-5
|
0-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
|
Alaska Fairbanks
|
9-6
|
.600
|
10-13
|
.434
|
4-3
|
5-3
|
1-7
|
Lost 1
|
|
6.
|
Central Washington
|
8-7
|
.533
|
15-8
|
.652
|
10-4
|
3-4
|
2-0
|
Won 5
|
|
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
8-7
|
.533
|
15-11
|
.577
|
10-4
|
3-5
|
2-2
|
Won 1
|
|
8.
|
Simon Fraser
|
7-8
|
.467
|
14-10
|
.583
|
7-3
|
2-5
|
5-2
|
Won 1
|
|
9.
|
Montana State Billings
|
4-11
|
.267
|
9-14
|
.391
|
5-5
|
2-8
|
2-1
|
Lost 4
|
|
10.
|
Saint Martin's
|
3-12
|
.200
|
5-19
|
.208
|
2-10
|
3-5
|
0-4
|
Lost 3
|
|
11.
|
Concordia
|
2-13
|
.133
|
3-20
|
.130
|
2-7
|
1-8
|
0-5
|
Lost 2
|
|
* clinched berth in GNAC Championships + clinched at least share of regular season championship
|
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Thursday's GNAC Games
home team listed in bold
|
|
Western Oregon 89, Western Washington 72
Seattle Pacific 83, Montana State Billings 62
Alaska Anchorage 90, Northwest Nazarene 89 (OT)
Central Washington 66, Alaska Fairbanks 63
Simon Fraser 79, Concordia 56
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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 1,508 victories.
