BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team had four players score in double figures, but a hot-shooting Saint Martin's University squad defeated the Vikings 86-68 Saturday on Senior Night in Carver Gym.
The Vikings dropped their second consecutive game to fall to 12-10 overall and 5-7 in GNAC play, with the Saints improving to 15-7 and 8-5 in conference play moving into a tie for first place with Central Washington.
Saint Martin's got off to a quick start building an early 8-2 lead and never trailed in the wire-to-wire palindrome victory. The Saints shot 48.4% for the game (31-for-64) and connected on 13-of-25 three-point attempts (52.0%) to earn a regular-season sweep of the Vikings for the first time since the 2007-08 season.
WWU kept close early trailing 26-20 following a three-pointer by D'Angelo Minnis midway through the first half, but Saint Martin's answered with a 14-0 run to take a 40-20 lead and never trailed by fewer than 13 points the remainder of the game.
Junior guard/forward Jalen Green led the Vikings with 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists, shooting 6-for-16 from the field. Junior guard Daniel Hornbuckle continued his hot three-point shooting, hitting 5-of-10 from beyond the arc to contribute 15 points. Junior guard Lucas Holden also added 14 points, while sophomore guard D'Angelo Minnis tallied 13 points.
The Vikings were held to a season-low field goal percentage (.379) going 25-for-66 from the field and were 10-for-29 (.345) from three-point range.
Kyle Greeley totaled 24 points and Alex Schumacher added 17 points to lead the Saints.
The Vikings (12-10, 5-7 GNAC) return to action Monday in the home finale hosting Montana State Billings at 7 pm on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and SMU from Saturday's game:
|
COMPARISON
|
WWU
|
SMU
|
|
Points
|
68
|
86
|
|
Field Goal Pct.
|
.379 (25-66)
|
.484 (31-64)
|
|
3 Point FG Pct.
|
.345 (10-29)
|
.520 (13-25)
|
|
Free Throw Pct.
|
.667 (8-12)
|
.917 (11-12)
|
|
Rebounds
|
34
|
43
|
|
Offensive Rebounds
|
16
|
14
|
|
Assists
|
14
|
15
|
|
Turnovers
|
11
|
12
|
|
Steals
|
4
|
7
|
|
Blocked Shots
|
5
|
3
|
|
Time Led
|
38:08
|
0:00
|
|
Points off Turnovers
|
6
|
9
|
|
Points in the Paint
|
24
|
24
|
|
Bench Points
|
19
|
14
|
|
Fouls
|
14
|
16
|
Prior to the game, WWU's three seniors were honored for their great contributions as student-athletes. Although not the final home game of the season, holding the game on a Saturday allowed more family members to attend to see Luke Lovelady, Dakota Ayala and RJ Secrest play in one of their final home games in Carver Gym.
While the regular-season conference champion and seeing for the GNAC tournament will be decided on a new points system, here is an updated look at the league standings following Saturday's game. View the conference schedule, scores, stats and updated standings at GNACSports.com.
|
MEN'S BASKETBALL
|
CONF
|
PCT
|
OVERALL
|
PCT
|
HOME
|
AWAY
|
NEUTRAL
|
STREAK
|
|
1.
|
Central Washington
|
8-5
|
.615
|
14-6
|
.700
|
7-2
|
6-3
|
1-1
|
Won 2
|
|
|
Saint Martin's
|
8-5
|
.615
|
15-7
|
.682
|
8-2
|
6-5
|
1-0
|
Won 1
|
|
3.
|
Northwest Nazarene
|
6-4
|
.600
|
8-7
|
.533
|
6-1
|
2-5
|
0-1
|
Won 3
|
|
4.
|
Montana State Billings
|
7-5
|
.583
|
11-11
|
.500
|
5-6
|
4-4
|
2-1
|
Won 1
|
|
5.
|
Alaska Anchorage
|
6-5
|
.545
|
11-7
|
.611
|
8-1
|
2-6
|
1-0
|
Lost 2
|
|
|
Seattle Pacific
|
6-5
|
.545
|
13-9
|
.591
|
8-2
|
2-5
|
3-2
|
Lost 1
|
|
7.
|
Simon Fraser
|
5-6
|
.455
|
10-9
|
.526
|
6-2
|
3-6
|
1-1
|
Lost 1
|
|
8.
|
Western Washington
|
5-7
|
.417
|
12-10
|
.545
|
10-4
|
1-4
|
1-2
|
Lost 2
|
|
9.
|
Western Oregon
|
4-8
|
.333
|
5-15
|
.250
|
2-4
|
3-8
|
0-3
|
Won 2
|
|
10
|
Alaska Fairbanks
|
4-9
|
.308
|
7-12
|
.368
|
4-1
|
1-9
|
2-2
|
Lost 2
|
|
THIS WEEK'S GNAC SCHEDULE & RESULTS
|
|
Monday, February 7
at Alaska Fairbanks 62, Montana State Billings 36
Tuesday, February 8
Western Washington 97, at Central Washington 86
at Northwest Nazarene 71, Saint Martin's 65
at Alaska Anchorage 64, Montana State Billings 57
at Seattle Pacific 76, Western Oregon 65
Thursday, February 10
Western Oregon 73, at Western Washington 71
at Northwest Nazarene 70, Alaska Anchorage 66
at Simon Fraser 64, Saint Martin's 63
at Central Washington 76, Alaska Fairbanks 73
Saturday, February 12
Saint Martin's 86, at Western Washington 68
Western Oregon 76, at Simon Fraser 63
Montana State Billings 70, at Seattle Pacific 54
at Northwest Nazarene 73, Alaska Fairbanks 66
at Central Washington 81, Alaska Anchorage 80 (OT)
|
The Vikings (12-10, 5-7 GNAC) remain at home hosting Montana State Billings on Monday in Carver Gym with tip-off vs. the Yellowjackets at 7 pm. Tickets for all home games are available in advance at wwuvikings.com/MBB_Tickets and live webcast and statistical updates will be available for all three games with direct links at wwuvikings.com/Live.
