BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team was defeated by Seattle Pacific University 78-59 Thursday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
The Vikings dropped their second consecutive game to fall to 8-6 overall and 1-3 in GNAC play, with the Falcons improving to 10-7 and 3-3 in league play.
The Falcons used a strong second-half surge to pull away from the Vikings for the 19-point victory on WECU Court in Carver Gym. The game was played in front of no fans due to WWU campus health and safety protocols.
The Vikings trailed 38-29 at the half, but cut the deficit to five points at 53-48 with 12:03 remaining, but SPU answered with a 12-1 run to pull away for the victory.
Junior guard/forward
Jalen Green led the Vikings with 17 points and nine rebounds, shooting 7-for-14 from the field. Freshman guard
Kai Johnson and junior guard
Lucas Holden each added seven points. The Vikings were held to a season lows in points and shooting percentage (.379/22-for-58).
Harry Cavell and Shaw Anderson each totaled 21 points to lead the Falcons, who shot 41.5-percent for the game (27-for-65) and were 8-for-24 from 3-point range.
NEXT UP FOR THE VIKINGS
The Vikings (8-6, 1-3 GNAC) were supposed to host Montana State Billings Saturday in Carver Gym, but the game was postponed due to health and safety protocols in the MSUB program. Instead, WWU will travel to Northwest Nazarene to play the Nighthawks on Saturday with tip-off at 7:30 pm MT/6:30 pm PT in Nampa, Idaho. WWU and NNU were postponed on January 1, and the makeup game was supposed to be next Tuesday (Jan. 25), but moved up to Saturday due to health and safety protocols with opposing teams.
GNAC STANDINGS
Here is an updated look at the GNAC standings following play on Thursday:
| MEN'S BASKETBALL |
CONF |
PCT |
OVERALL |
PCT |
HOME |
AWAY |
NEUTRAL |
STREAK |
| Saint Martin's |
4-2 |
.667 |
11-4 |
.733 |
7-1 |
3-3 |
1-0 |
Lost 1 |
| Alaska Anchorage |
2-1 |
.667 |
7-3 |
.700 |
5-0 |
1-3 |
1-0 |
Won 1 |
| Simon Fraser |
2-1 |
.667 |
7-4 |
.636 |
4-0 |
2-3 |
1-1 |
Won 1 |
| Northwest Nazarene |
3-2 |
.600 |
5-5 |
.500 |
3-1 |
2-3 |
0-1 |
Won 2 |
| Montana State Billings |
3-2 |
.600 |
7-8 |
.467 |
4-5 |
1-2 |
2-1 |
Won 1 |
| Central Washington |
2-2 |
.500 |
8-3 |
.727 |
3-0 |
4-2 |
1-1 |
Lost 1 |
| Seattle Pacific |
3-3 |
.500 |
10-7 |
.588 |
5-1 |
2-4 |
3-2 |
Won 2 |
| Western Oregon |
2-2 |
.500 |
3-9 |
.250 |
2-1 |
1-5 |
0-3 |
Lost 3 |
| Western Washington |
1-3 |
.250 |
8-6 |
.571 |
7-2 |
0-2 |
1-2 |
Lost 2 |
| Alaska Fairbanks |
1-5 |
.167 |
4-8 |
.333 |
1-1 |
1-5 |
2-2 |
Lost 1 |
| THURSDAY'S GNAC RESULTS |
Seattle Pacific 78, at Western Washington 59
at Northwest Nazarene 95, Western Oregon 59
Montana State Billings at Simon Fraser (Postponed)
Saint Martin's at Central Washington (Postponed) |
2021-22 SCHEDULE
The ever-changing 2021-22 WWU Men's Basketball Schedule can be viewed online at
wwuvikings.com/21-22_MBB, complete with links to purchase tickets and live coverage links for webcast and live stats.
ABOUT WWU BASKETBALL
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 three of the last four years (and seven of nine) and won the 2020 GNAC Championships Tournament. WWU is the 12th winningest Division II program with its 1,522 all-time victories.
