BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Coming off a pair of exciting last-second road victories last week, the Western Washington University men's basketball team closes out the regular season Saturday night with another away game at Simon Fraser University.

 

WWU and SFU will clash in the border battle in the second game of a Great Northwest Athletic Conference doubleheader with the women's game starting at 5:15 pm. The Viking men and SFU will follow with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 pm in West Gym.

 

The Vikings head into the regular-season finale with a 14-12 overall record and 7-9 mark in conference play. The GNAC Championships will feature all 10 teams this season, with seeding determined on a new points rating system. The four-day tournament will run March 2-5 in Seattle (Brougham Pavilion) and Lacey (Marcus Pavilion). The tournament bracket will be revealed on GNACSports.com either Saturday evening or Sunday morning.

 

WWU's frantic run to the finish of the regular season will conclude with Saturday's game on Burnaby Mountain, concluding a stretch of 10 games in the month of February and 11 games over a 27-day stretch. The Vikings went 2-1 on the road last week, earning a 83-80 victory at Montana State Billings in overtime and 79-78 win at Seattle Pacific. The three-game, three-state road trip concluded with a 89-65 loss Monday at Western Oregon.

 

The Vikings victories over MSUB and SPU featured a pair of last-second shots, with D'Angelo Minnis hitting a half-court buzzer-beater that was featured as the No. 1 top play on SportsCenter that night. Just two days later, Lucas Holden hit a game-winning three-pointer with two seconds remaining for the win over the Falcons.

 

WWU has had 11 of 26 games decided by three-or-fewer points, going 7-4 in those games. 

 

Junior guard/forward Jalen Green leads the Vikings averaging 16.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, both ranking in the top 10 in the GNAC. Second-leading scorer Daniel Hornbuckle is averaging 13.9 points per game, but is likely out for the season after suffering an injury to his jaw in the Seattle Pacific game. Sophomore guard D'Angelo Minnis is averaging 11.7 points and 4.4 assists per game, and is 2nd in the GNAC averaging 36.5 minutes per game. Senior forward Luke Lovelady has had a consistent season averaging 11.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while shooting a team-best 56.0% (107-for-191).

 

 

SFU defeated the Vikings 82-80 in overtime in the GNAC opener for both teams on December 4 in Carver Gym in Bellingham. WWU had its 13-game home winning streak vs. SFU snapped in the two-point defeat. The Vikings continue to lead the all-time series 59-27 and are still 9-3 over the last 12 meetings. SFU has won three of the last four in the series.

 

WWU will complete the regular season with four consecutive road games, covering three states (Montana, Washington, Oregon) and one province (British Columbia). The Vikings played three games over a five-day stretch (Thursday at MSUB, Saturday at SPU, Monday at WOU) and then cross the border to play at Simon Fraser on Saturday, February 26 on Burnaby Mountain. 

 

News and notes on the 2021-22 WWU Men's Basketball team:

 

• The Record – 14-12 overall, 7-9 GNAC, 10-5 at home, 4-7 on the road (3-5 in true away games).
• Lately – Won two of last three road games after starting the year 1-4 in true away games.
• SportsCenter Top Play – The overtime buzzer beater by D'Angelo Minnis on Feb. 17 was the top play on ESPN's SportsCenter…WWU scored eight points in the final 11 seconds for the 83-80 win.
• At the Half – When leading (12-1), When Trailing (2-9), When Tied (0-2).
• Geography Lesson – Saturday's game at SFU concludes a string of playing 10 games in the month of February in four states (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Montana) and one province (British Columbia).
• GNAC Standings – 7th in traditional GNAC standings at 7-9…entered week tied for 5th in new GNAC Points Rating System.
• Block Party – Leads the GNAC and 30th in NCAA II averaging 4.2 blocked shots per game.
• Close Calls – 11 of 26 games decided by 3-or-fewer points (7-4 record).
• Cleaning the Glass – Ranks 37th in NCAA II with +4.8 rebounding margin.
• Sharp Shooters – 3rd in the GNAC and 32nd in NCAA II with .483 team field goal percentage.
• Filling the Stat Sheet – Junior G/F Jalen Green leads the team averaging 16.2 points per game (7th in the GNAC) and is second with 6.2 rebounds per game (9th in GNAC)…also 8th in the conference with a .557 FG Pct. (132-for-237)…3rd in the conference with 1.3 blocked shots per game…scored in double-digits in 17 of 20 games (7 straight) and has six 20-point performances.
• Mighty Minnis – Sophomore G D'Angelo Minnis is averaging 11.7 points and 4.4 assists per game…5th in the GNAC in assists per game, 12th with 2.1 assist-to-turnover ratio and 2nd averaging 36.5 minutes per game…scored 20+ points in three games this season.
• Consistent Hornbuckle – Junior G Daniel Hornbuckle has scored in double-digits in 22 of 26 games…second on the team averaging 13.9 points per game and one of the top 3-point shooters in the GNAC at 45.3% (77-for-177)…77 made 3-pointers are tied for 9th-most in WWU single-season history.
• Efficient Lovelady – Senior F Luke Lovelady is 7th in the GNAC in field goal percentage (.560/107-for-191) and 8th averaging 6.3 rebounds per game (also 7th with 1.1 blocks/game)…averaging 11.0 points per game (29th in GNAC) scoring in double-digits in 15 of 24 games…7th in WWU history with a career .585 field goal percentage (248-for-424).
• Dependable RJ – Senior RJ Secrest has stated all 26 games and is averaging 26.1 minutes per game…averaging 7.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 49.4% (80-for-162)…also 37-for-45 from the free throw line (.822).
• 1K for Ayala – Senior F Dakota Ayala recently passed 1,000 career points in his collegiate career, which spans one season at Skagit Valley College (344), two seasons at Concordia-Portland (509) and one season at WWU (176)…Ayala now has 1,029 career collegiate points.
• GNAC Prediction – Picked 3rd in GNAC Preseason Coaches Poll…defending GNAC Tournament Champions winning the title in March 2020.
• National Champs – This season is the 10th anniversary of the 2011-12 NCAA II National Championship.

 

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 heading the final day of the regular season. View the conference schedule, scores, stats and updated standings at GNACSports.com.

 

 

WWU celebrated its three seniors - Luke Lovelady, RJ Secrest and Dakota Ayala – prior to the home game on Saturday, February 12 vs. Saint Martin's on Senior Night.

 

The GNAC announced a change to the format and qualifying criteria for its 2022 men's and women's basketball championships. The conference's Management Council and CEO Board unanimously voted to expand this year's tournament to all 10 men's and women's programs. The GNAC Championships will now run from March 2 to 5. To accommodate full fields in both genders, the first two rounds of games will be split between Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Washington, and Seattle Pacific University. In total, six games – two play-in contests and four quarterfinals matchups – will be contested at SPU's Royal Brougham Pavilion. The other 12 games, including the semifinals and championship games in both genders, will be played at Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin's, which was awarded tournament-hosting rights two years ago. For each gender, the No. 7 through No. 10 seeds will compete in play-in games on Wednesday, March 2. The winners will advance to an eight-team bracket, which will begin play on Thursday, March 3.

The points rating system is an end-of-season calculation that attaches numeric values to each result based on whether the game was at home or on the road and where each opponent's final conference winning percentage fell (i.e., .750 and above, .500 to .749, .250 to .499 and .249 and below). The better an opponent's final winning percentage, the greater the point values for a win or a loss. It is similar to one of the key metrics used by Division II in ranking teams under consideration for NCAA postseason at-large berths in multiple sports, including men's and women's basketball.

 

WWU has had 11 of 26 games decided by three-or-fewer points, going 7-4 in those games. Defeated MSU Billings 83-80 in overtime and Seattle Pacific 79-78 in recent games. The Vikings recorded three consecutive two-point victories January 27-31, with an 83-81 win over Northwest Nazarene, 90-88 victory against Central Washington and a 93-91 overtime win vs. Alaska Anchorage – all in home games in Carver Gym. Western opened the season with back-to-back one-point losses to Cal Poly Humboldt and Cal State Dominguez Hills and a were on the short end of a two-point 82-80 overtime loss to Simon Fraser. Western also defeated Lindenwood 60-58 in Las Vegas and Alaska Fairbanks 94-92 on January 8 in GNAC play.

 

Here is a look at the results for the Vikings in the first 26 games of the 2021-22 season:

 

 

Led by three-time selection RJ Secrest and two-time selection Ivan Bullock the Vikings set a program record with four selections to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference All-Academic Team. WWU's four award winners are one better than the three awards earned by WWU men's basketball student-athletes in 2009, 2011, 2017 and 2018. Secrest earned the honor in each of the last three seasons and nears graduation with degrees in business finance and marketing while maintaining a 3.50 GPA. He becomes the sixth player in program history to earn three GNAC All-Academic honors in a career, joining Rory Blanche (2010-12), David Gage Brittinen (2007-09), Calin Schell (2007-09), Chris Mitchell (2011-13) and Trevor Jasinsky (2018-20).

 

WWU won the 2020 GNAC Championships title finishing the season with a 20-10 overall record. The Vikings completed a 2-0 run through the GNAC Championships to earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships. Finished the regular season with a 13-7 league record to earn the No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. Qualified for the NCAA II Championships for the ninth time, but the West Regional Tournament was cancelled due to the national pandemic.

 

WWU has made nine appearances in the NCAA Division II Championships. Owns an all-time NCAA Tournament record of 17-7 (.708) and have won at least one game in six of eight previous championships appearances (2+ games  in 4 of 8). The Vikings are three-time West Region Champions (2001, 2012, 2013), advancing the NCAA II Final Four in all three of the Elite 8 appearances in program history. The Vikings won the 2012 NCAA II National Championship.

 

Head coach Tony Dominguez is in his 10th season at the helm of the program, and 27th overall at WWU. Dominguez has led the Vikings to a 182-88 record (.674) and was the 2016-17 GNAC Coach of the Year. He is assisted by David Dunham (6th season), Bob Hofstetter (9th season), Atiavo Jude (9th season) and lead support staff members AJ Albritton (Director of Basketball Operations and Garrett Thibodeaux (Assistant Coach & Video Coordinator).

 

More information on the 2021-22 season, including statistics, schedule, roster and program history can be found online at WWUVikings.com/MBB and via social media on Twitter (@WWUHoops)and Facebook (@WWUmensbball).

 

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 1,528 all-time victories.