PORTLAND, Ore. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team recorded its biggest margin of victory in conference play this season, a 26-point 91-65 victory over Concordia Saturday evening on LCEF Court.
The victory kept the Vikings in a three-way tie for 2nd place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings at 10-6 and improved to 15-9 overall.
After playing at Western Oregon on Thursday shorthanded in a 89-72 loss, the Vikings rebounded with the 91-point outburst. Redshirt freshman guard D'Angelo Minnis returned to the court after missing Thursday's game with illness, scoring a team-high 20 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field and 5-for-7 from 3-point range. Minnis scored 17 of his 20 points in the first half.
Senior forward Trevor Jasinsky had a solid homecoming, pouring in 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting and made a trio of 3-pointers. The Camas, Washington native (just across the river from Portland) added a pair of steals in the win.
Senior guard Leif Anderson was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and made all three of his 3-pointer attempts in his 11-point performance and senior guard Siaan Rojas added 11 points and 6 rebounds. Senior center Logan Schilder grabbed a team-high 7 rebounds, added a pair of blocks and scored 8 points. Senior Cameron Retherford contributed 9 points in his final collegiate game in his hometown of Portland.
The Vikings shot 50.8% for the game, connecting on 32-of-63 shots and were 14-for-25 from 3-point range (56.0%). The 14 3-pointers made are tied for the most in a game this season and the single-team team-high for the Vikings in a conference game. WWU also turned 18 Concordia turnovers into 26 points.
The Cavaliers (3-21, 2-14) were led by a game-high 27 points from Dakota Ayala, who also tied for the team high with 6 rebounds. Concordia shot 44.6% for the game (25-for-56) and were 6-for-23 from 3-point range (26.1%).
The Vikings called a 30-second timeout at the 13:52 mark in the first half, leading 14-11. WWU came out of the timeout scoring nine consecutive points, on 3-pointers by Cameron Retherford and Leif Anderson, and a 3-point play by D'Angelo Minnis. The 9-0 run jump-started a longer 28-6 run that put the Vikings up by 20 points at 37-17 with 7:16 remaining in the half.
The Vikings built a 22-point halftime lead at 50-28 over the Vikings, with the team shooting 54.3% (19-for-35) from the floor. WWU was 9-for-16 (56.3%) from 3-point range, with D'Angelo Minnis scoring 12 of his first-half-leading 17 points from beyond the arc. Jalen Green and Cameron Retherford each added 6 points in the Vikings second-highest scoring first half of the GNAC season (52 vs. MSUB on Dec. 7).
WWU (15-9, 10-6 GNAC) returns to Carver Gym next week for the penultimate weekend in conference play, hosting Saint Martin's on Thursday and GNAC leader Seattle Pacific on Saturday. Both games feature a 7 pm tip-off on WECU Court in Carver Gym with advance tickets available online at WWUVikings.com/MBB_Tickets.
SERIES HISTORY VS. CONCORDIA
Earned the series sweep over Concordia, also defeating the Cavaliers 82-66 in Carver Gym on Jan. 16. WWU has won seven of the last eight in the series over the last four seasons and WWU finishes the all-time series with a 10-2 record (4-1 in Portland). It was announced earlier this week that the Concordia-Portland University will close this spring.
Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings through the games played on Saturday, with the Vikings remaining in a second-place tie with Western Oregon and Northwest Nazarene. WWU has four games remaining in the 2019-20 regular season, with three of the four in Carver Gym.
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MEN'S BASKETBALL
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CONF
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PCT
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OVERALL
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PCT
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HOME
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AWAY
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NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
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1.
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Seattle Pacific*+
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15-1
|
.938
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19-5
|
.792
|
9-3
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10-1
|
0-1
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Won 5
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2.
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Western Oregon
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10-6
|
.625
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16-6
|
.727
|
8-2
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5-4
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3-0
|
Won 3
|
|
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Western Washington
|
10-6
|
.625
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15-9
|
.625
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10-3
|
5-5
|
0-1
|
Won 1
|
|
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Northwest Nazarene
|
10-6
|
.625
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13-8
|
.619
|
8-3
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5-5
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0-0
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Won 1
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5.
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Alaska Anchorage
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9-7
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.563
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16-11
|
.592
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11-4
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3-5
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2-2
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Won 2
|
|
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Alaska Fairbanks
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9-7
|
.563
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10-14
|
.417
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4-4
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5-3
|
1-7
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Lost 2
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7.
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Central Washington
|
8-8
|
.500
|
15-9
|
.625
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10-4
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3-5
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2-0
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Lost 1
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8.
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Simon Fraser
|
7-9
|
.438
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14-11
|
.560
|
7-3
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2-6
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5-2
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Lost 1
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9.
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Montana State Billings
|
5-11
|
.313
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10-14
|
.417
|
6-5
|
2-8
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2-1
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Won 1
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10.
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Saint Martin's
|
3-13
|
.188
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5-20
|
.200
|
2-10
|
3-6
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0-4
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Lost 4
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11.
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Concordia
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2-14
|
.125
|
3-21
|
.125
|
2-8
|
1-8
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0-5
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Lost 3
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* clinched berth in GNAC Championships + clinched at least share of regular season championship
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Saturday's GNAC Games
home team listed in bold
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Western Washington 91, Concordia 65
Northwest Nazarene 94, Alaska Fairbanks 52
Western Oregon 76, Simon Fraser 64
Alaska Anchorage 70, Central Washington 68 (OT)
Montana State Billings 79, Saint Martin's 59
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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 1,509 victories.
