LACEY, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team had an upset victory over No. 7 Saint Martin's within its grasp, but the Saints used a 12-0 run to finish the game to record a last second 77-75 win over the Vikings Thursday evening in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play inside Marcus Pavilion.

WWU held a 10-point lead at 75-65 with 4:03 remaining in the game, but the Saints scored the final 12 points to record the two-point victory. Myles Samuels had the game-winning steal and ensuing layup in the final seconds to send the Saints to the comeback victory.

The Vikings dropped their third consecutive conference road game to fall to 12-9 overall and slipped to 7th place in the GNAC standings at 4-6 in league play. Saint Martin's was on the brink of dropping its second straight game for the first time this season, but pulled out the win to improve to 18-2 overall and moved back into a tie for 1st place in the conference standings at 8-2.

Senior forward Jonathan Ned scored a game-high 22 points on 10-for-21 shooting, with 18 points coming in the first half as WWU held a 48-43 lead at the break. Olympia native Kai Johnson scored 18 points and added eight rebounds in his homecoming game and Tijan Saine and Will Wilson each had 10 points. Wilson recorded a game-high 11 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season.

Saint Martin's was led by 19 points from Kyle Greeley (7-for-20 FG) and 14 points by Shakeem Alcindor. 

The game featured nine lead changes and eight ties, with the Vikings leading for over 30 minutes of the 40-minute contest. Saint Martin's did not hold a lead in the second half until the layup by Samuels in the final seconds of the game after recording a steal near midcourt with the game tied 75-75.

The Vikings (12-9, 4-6 GNAC) close out their four-game GNAC road trip Saturday traveling to Monmouth, Oregon to face Western Oregon on Saturday at 2 pm in Monmouth. The complete season schedule, complete with links on how to watch the games, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/MBB.

Senior forward Jonathan Ned led all players with 22 points on 10-for-21 shooting. Ned scored 18 of his 22 points in the first half. He also added a pair of steals while playing 36 of 40 minutes in the game.

Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Saint Martin's:

The Saints extended their winning streak over the Vikings to six straight. WWU still leads the all-time series 136-70 with the first meeting dating back to the 1919-20 season. SMU has won nine of the last 12 games in the series.

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2023-24 season:

Here is an updated look at the 2023-24 GNAC Men's Basketball standings following play on Thursday to open the second half of the conference slate. Updated standings and conference statistics can be viewed online at GNACSports.com.

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season following the two-point 77-75 loss at No. 7 Saint Martin's:

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, WWU has recorded a 20-win season in eight of the last 12 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 five years (and seven of 10) and won the 2020 GNAC Championships Tournament. WWU is amongst the top 15 winningest Division II programs with its 1,555 all-time victories.