HONOLULU – The Western Washington University men's basketball team erased a 10-point deficit to take a second-half lead, but couldn't sustain the comeback attempt in a 76-66 loss to Texas Permian Basin Saturday afternoon at the Hawaii Convention Center in the opening game of the Hoops in Hawai'i Holiday Classic presented by Outrigger Resorts and Hotels.

WWU trailed by as many as 10 points midway through the first half, but battled back to trail by only two points 30-28 at the half. The Vikings used a 6-0 run, capped by a Matthew Mayes dunk, to take a two-point lead 40-38 with 14:14 remaining. But the Falcons answered with a 14-2 run and led the rest of the way en route to the 10-point victory. 

A late 7-2 run pulled the Vikings to within five points 70-65 with 3:34 remaining in the game, but again the Falcons had an answer scoring six consecutive points down the stretch to put the game away.

The Vikings dropped just their second game of the season to fall to 7-2, while UTPB improved to 7-4 on the season.

Junior forward Jonathan Ned and senior guard Lucas Holden tied for the team lead with 13 points each, with BJ Kolly adding 12 points (5-for-6 FG) and eight rebounds. Junior guard D'Angelo Minnis contributed 12 points on 6-for-13 shooting and sophomore guard Kai Johnson had four points, eight rebounds and a team-high four assists.

WWU was held way below its season scoring average of 96.4 points per game, shooting 42.1-percent from the field (24-for-57) and 5-for-21 from three-point range (.238). Each team grabbed 34 rebounds with the Vikings holding a 11-10 advantage in offensive rebounds.

UTPB featured five players scoring in double-digits and with all 76 points scored by six players. Guard Jalen King led all players with 21 points on 9-for-14 shooting and Nathaniel Powell neared a double-double with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds. The Falcons shot 49.2-percent in the game (32-for-65) and were 5-for-12 (.417) from beyond the three-point line. The Falcons shot 63.3-percent in the second half (19-for-30) to hold off the Vikings comeback.

The Vikings (7-2, 1-0 GNAC) will play two more games over the next two days at the Hoops in Hawai'i Holiday Classic presented by Outrigger Resorts and Hotels. WWU will play Emmanuel College Sunday at 5:30 pm PT/3:30 pm HT and Hawai'i Pacific on Monday at 3:15 pm PT/1:15 pm HT. The complete 2022-23 WWU men's basketball schedule can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/MBB.

Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and UT Permian Basin:

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2022-23 season:

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2022-23 season following the 76-66 loss to UT Permian Basin:

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 2012 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 1,535 all-time victories. Head coach Tony Dominguez is in his 10th season and 11th year as the Vikings head coach (28th overall at WWU) and is listed in the top 20 amongst active NCAA Division II head coaches with a .674 winning percentage (189-92).