BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team handed No. 20 nationally-ranked Seattle Pacific only its second conference loss of the season, putting together a complete game in a 73-68 victory Saturday night in front of 1,201 fans on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
The Vikings clinched a spot in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships improving to 12-6 in league play and 17-9 overall. WWU has won three straight and four of its last five continuing its push for the postseason. SPU had its 6-game winning streak snapped to fall to 20-6 overall and 16-2 in GNAC play. The Falcons have already clinched the GNAC title and will serve as the hosts to the GNAC Championships March 5-7 at Royal Brougham Pavilion.
The No. 9 regionally-ranked Vikings used another hot shooting night from senior forward Trevor Jasinsky to record the five-point victory. Jasinsky poured in a game-high 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting and was 4-for-7 from 3-point range.
Redshirt freshman point guard D'Angelo Minnis added 12 points on 5-for-9 shooting and tallied a career-high 9 assists.
Sharp-shooting senior guard Leif Anderson added 11 points on 3-for-8 shooting and sophomore guard/forward Jalen Green contributed 10 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in 37 minutes.
Junior forward Luke Lovelady provided a boost off the bench with 8 points on 4-for-6 shooting in 10 minutes of action. All of Lovelady's scoring came in the final 8 minutes of the game, including a go-ahead dunk with 2 minutes remaining in the game that gave the Vikings the lead for good.
WWU became just the second team to shoot over 50.0% in a game vs. the Falcons this season, connecting on 30-of-58 shots (51.7%) and were 8-for-23 from 3-point range.
The Falcons (20-6, 16-2) had three players reach double-figures in scoring, led by 16 points each by freshman forward Shaw Anderson and sophomore guard Divant'e Moffitt. After a slow shooting start (2-for-17), SPU finished at 44.4% from the field (24-for-54).
The Vikings and Falcons played through three tie scores at 59-59 (6:31), 61-61 (4:51) and 67-67 (2:30) over the last six minutes of the contest before the Vikings forged ahead at the 2-minute mark. With the game tied 67-67, Luke Lovelady took a pass from D'Angelo Minnis and dunked it home to give the Vikings a 69-67 lead. After Divant'e Moffitt hit one-of-two free throws, a layup by Lovelady with 32-seconds remaining gave the Vikings a three-point cushion. Leif Anderson hit a pair of free throws to clinch the victory.
The Vikings raced out to a 18-7 lead, with the 11-point cushion sparked by a 8 points from Trevor Jasinsky and 7-for-16 shooting by WWU. SPU opened the game just 2-for-17 from the field through the first 10 minutes of the game, but caught fire hitting 11-of-14 shots to pull to within three points at 37-34 at the half. Overall The Vikings shot 50.0% in the first half (16-for-32) and were 4-for-14 from 3-point range. Jasinsky led the Vikings with 11 points and 4 rebounds, with Leif Anderson, D'Angelo Minnis and Jalen Green each contributing 6 points. SPU ended up shooting 41.9% in the half (13-for-31) and were led by 12 points by Shaw Anderson (5-for-9 FG).
GNAC CHAMPIONSHIPS SPOT CLINCHED
The Vikings joined Seattle Pacific and Northwest Nazarene as three of the six teams that have clinched a spot in the 2020 GNAC Men's Basketball Championships that will be played March 5-7 at Brougham Pavilion on the campus of SPU. WWU has now advanced to play in the GNAC Championships in eight of the nine tournaments since it debuted in 2010-11, recording a 7-5 record.
WWU (17-9, 12-6 GNAC) closes out the home portion of the 2019-20 schedule on Tuesday night with a GNAC hoops doubleheader in Carver Gym with the Vikings hosting Simon Fraser University. It will be Senior Night for both the Viking men and women, with the women's game tipping off at 5:15 pm and the men's to follow at 7:30 pm.
Senior guard Leif Anderson was 3-for-6 from 3-point range vs. the Falcons, and is now 12-for-16 from beyond the arc over the last four games. For the season Anderson is 31-for-71 (43.7%) from 3-point range.
SERIES HISTORY VS. SEATTLE PACIFIC
The Vikings split the season series with SPU, with each team winning on its home court. Saturday's WWU win snapped a 4-game losing streak to the Falcons. WWU trails the all-time series 87-56.
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 Northwest Nazarene at 12-6 in conference play. WWU and Northwest Nazarene joined SPU as the three teams to qualify so far for the six-team GNAC Championships. All five home teams were victorious Saturday night across the GNAC footprint.
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MEN'S BASKETBALL
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CONF
|
PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
1.
|
Seattle Pacific*+
|
16-2
|
.889
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20-6
|
.769
|
9-3
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11-2
|
0-1
|
Lost 1
|
|
2.
|
Western Washington*
|
12-6
|
.667
|
17-9
|
.654
|
12-3
|
5-5
|
0-1
|
Won 3
|
|
|
Northwest Nazarene*
|
12-6
|
.667
|
15-8
|
.652
|
10-3
|
5-5
|
0-0
|
Won 3
|
|
4.
|
Western Oregon
|
11-7
|
.611
|
17-7
|
.708
|
8-2
|
6-5
|
3-0
|
Lost 1
|
|
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Alaska Anchorage
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11-7
|
.611
|
18-11
|
.620
|
12-4
|
4-5
|
2-2
|
Won 4
|
|
6.
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Alaska Fairbanks
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10-8
|
.556
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11-15
|
.423
|
5-5
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5-3
|
1-7
|
Won 1
|
|
7.
|
Central Washington
|
9-9
|
.500
|
16-10
|
.615
|
11-5
|
3-5
|
2-0
|
Won 1
|
|
8.
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Simon Fraser
|
8-10
|
.445
|
15-12
|
.556
|
8-4
|
2-6
|
5-2
|
Won 1
|
|
9.
|
Montana State Billings
|
5-13
|
.278
|
10-16
|
.385
|
6-5
|
2-10
|
2-1
|
Lost 2
|
|
10.
|
Saint Martin's
|
3-15
|
.167
|
5-22
|
.185
|
2-10
|
3-8
|
0-4
|
Lost 6
|
|
11.
|
Concordia
|
2-16
|
.111
|
3-23
|
.115
|
2-8
|
1-10
|
0-5
|
Lost 5
|
|
* clinched berth in GNAC Championships + clinched at least share of regular season championship
|
|
Saturday's GNAC Games
home team listed in bold
|
|
Western Washington 73, Seattle Pacific 68
Alaska Anchorage 87, Montana State Billings 73
Simon Fraser 82, Saint Martin's 74
Central Washington 69, Concordia 66
Northwest Nazarene 89, Western Oregon 87 (OT)
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Senior Trevor Jasinsky continues to climb the WWU all-time scoring list, moving up to 11th place in WWU history with 1,456 career points. Jasinsky is now 9 points shy of cracking the all-time WWU top-10 in points scored.
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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.
|
Trevor Jasinsky (2016-current)
|
1,456
|
116
|
12.5
|
|
12.
|
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
|
106
|
12.5
|
|
14.
|
Kevin Bryant (1976-1980)
|
1,310
|
109
|
12.0
|
|
15.
|
Rory Blanche (2008-12)
|
1,273
|
109
|
11.7
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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 1,511 victories.
