BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The final week of the 2023-24 GNAC regular-season has arrived, and as the race for the postseason comes to an exciting conclusion the Western Washington Men's Basketball team will play their final regular season game Saturday at Simon Fraser University north of the border in Burnaby.

 

The Vikings are 16-12 overall and in 7th place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with an 8-9 league record heading into their GNAC-closer at SFU on Saturday with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 pm in West Gym on Burnaby Mountain.

 

Heading into the final week of GNAC play, the Vikings are in a battle for one of the three remaining spots for the GNAC Basketball Championships that will be held March 7-9 in Ellensburg. WWU is even on wins with 6th place Seattle Pacific for the final playoff spot, but the Falcons have a game in hand, and travel to take on the Alaska schools this week, making the Vikings matchup with Simon Fraser a must-win contest.

 

WWU is coming off an exciting and successful final homestand of 2023-24 where they went 2-0, winning 74-64 against Northwest Nazarene and 87-76 against rivals Central Washington on senior night. Both wins came after the Vikings trailed at halftime. WWU completed the regular season with a 10-3 record inside Carver Gym this season.

 

The Vikings feature one of the most prolific offenses in the nation averaging a GNAC-best 88.7 points per game, a mark that is listed No. 9 in NCAA II. Western is also a top shooting team in NCAA II ranking 25th in the nation with a .489 field goal percentage and is listed 28th shooting .770 from the free throw line.

 

Junior guard Kai Johnson continues to make a strong case for GNAC Player of the Year and All-America honors leading the league and ranking 11th in NCAA II averaging 21.8 points per game. Johnson has scored in double-digits in all 28 games this season with a conference-best 19 games with 20-or-more points and just passed the 600-point mark for the season.

 

Junior guard Will Wilson is second on the team and 5th in the GNAC averaging 15.4 points per game and junior forward Nic Welp paces the team and ranks 4th in the league averaging 7.6 rebounds per game. Redshirt freshman Tijan Saine has emerged as one of the top shooters in the GNAC ranking 4th with a 42.5 three-point field goal percentage (37-for-87) and is 3rd with a 88.8 free throw percentage (103-for-116).

 

 

The Vikings (16-12, 8-9 GNAC) head north of the border to Burnaby on Saturday for the final game of the 2023-24 regular-season, playing Simon Fraser in the West Gym at 7:30 pm as part of a GNAC doubleheader with the No. 15 nationally-ranked WWU women's team tipping off against SFU at 5:15 pm. The complete season schedule, complete with links on how to watch the games, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/MBB.

 

WWU seniors Darius Gary, Isaac Morrow and Jonathan Ned will play in their last regular-season GNAC game on Saturday against Simon Fraser after being honored last Saturday on Senior Night in Carver Gym. Here is an update on the WWU senior trio:

 

·         Darius Gary (Willingboro, NJ): The corner-three specialist has appeared in 51 games over two seasons as a Viking since transferring from Portland Community College. He has shot an impressive 43.0-percent from three in his time as a Viking while also providing a number of highlight-reel dunks.

·         Isaac Morrow (Lakewood, WA): Morrow has brought his unique brand of physicality to the Vikings over his two seasons in Bellingham. He has appeared in 47 games, including six starts this season, and is shooting at a 53.9 percent clip from the field over his WWU career while providing 3.1 rebounds per game and posting 23 career blocks. Morrow is notably one of the last remaining NCAA players who were a part of the Concordia (OR.) program that shut down after the 2019-20 season.

·         Jonathan Ned (Brentwood, CA): Ned has been a key part of the Vikings roster over the last 2 seasons since transferring in from the University of Georgia. He has made 55 appearances and 42 starts in his time at WWU, providing 11.4 points and 4.0 rebounds per game while shooting 40.2 percent from the floor and 34.1 percent from three. This season Ned leads the Vikings and is 5th in the GNAC averaging 1.6 steals per game while also averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game.

 

The Vikings completed the regular season with a 10-3 record Carver Gym, including a 7-2 mark in GNAC play. 

 

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

 

 

Heading into the final week of GNAC play, the Vikings are in a battle for one of the three remaining spots for the GNAC Basketball Championships that will be held March 7-9 in Ellensburg. The top six teams in the team standings at the end of the regular season advance to the conference tournament. WWU is even on wins with Seattle Pacific for the final playoff spot, but the Falcons have a game in hand, and travel to take on the Alaska schools this week while the Vikings take on Simon Fraser. Any way you slice it, Saturdays game is a must-win for Western. If the Vikings defeat Simon Fraser on Saturday, then they can qualify for the postseason with several different combinations of results this week, for further information on GNAC Championship tiebreaker rules, or to browse the standings and results around the conference, go to GNACSports.com.

 

Here is an updated look at the 2023-24 GNAC Men's Basketball standings heading into the final week of the regular season, with WWU in 7th place in the table. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the GNAC Championships held March 7-9 in Ellensburg:

 

 

WWU junior Kai Johnson is having a breakout season as a leading candidate for GNAC Player of the Year and All-America honors. Through the first 28 games of the season, Kai has scored in double-digits in all 28 games with a conference-best 19 games with 20-or-more points. Heading into this weekend's game, Johnson leads the GNAC and ranks 11th in NCAA Division II averaging 21.8 points per game. In addition to his prolific scoring, Johnson is amongst conference leaders in several statistical categories including 8th with a .520 field goal percentage (207-for-398), 5th in assists averaging 3.5 per game, 7th in steals (1.5/game), 8th in three-point shooting (.402/39-for-97) and 5th in the GNAC playing in an average of 33.1 minutes per game. Last season Johnson averaged 12.9 points (11th), 5.3 rebounds (11th), 3.0 assists (7th) and 0.7 blocked shots (16th) to earn Second Team All-GNAC honors.

 

 

With his 19th 20+ point performance of the season, a 25-point game against CWU on Saturday, junior guard Kai Johnsonpassed the 600-point mark for the 2023-2024 season. This marks just the 6th time in program history a player has scored 600 in a season, and the first time since Taylor Stafford scored a program single-season record 706 points in 2016-17. Kai has done this while putting up 21.8 points per game this season, a mark which would be top-3 in program history and the most since Taylor Stafford averaged 22.8 points per game in 2016-17 en-route to the only 700-point season in program history. Johnson's 207 field goals made this season is also top-10 in program history. With at least one game remaining in Kai's 2023-24 campaign, this is where he stands among the programs 600-point season club:

 

Kai Johnson has already made plenty of headlines as one of the top scorers in the nation, but now Kai has gone viral. Johnson scored a game-high 23 points in the Vikings 78-62 win over Western Oregon on Saturday, February 3. While Johnson made 10 field goals during the game, it was his highlight-reel dunk at the 9:48 mark in the second half that went viral. With WWU leading 56-43, Johnson drove the lane, made an up-and-under move, threw the ball off the backboard to himself and put down a two-handed dunk over a WOU defender. The next day the dunk was selected as the No. 3 top play on ESPN Sportscenter, marking the second time in the last three seasons a WWU men's basketball play has received national acclaim. A game-winning half court buzzer beater by D'Angelo Minnis on February 17, 2022 was the top Sportscenter play. You can watch a full replay of the dunk by Kai and the Top 10 Sportscenter segment on the WWU Athletics YouTube Page:

 

Junior guard Will Wilson is having a banner rookie season with the Vikings, averaging 15.4 points per game to rank second on the team and 5th in the GNAC. Wilson has scored in double-digits in 23 of 27 games, including 12 of his last 13 games. Wilson is 3rd in the GNAC at three-point shooting with a 42.6-percentage (46-for-108) and is 9th connecting on 73-of-90 free throw attempts (.811).

 

WWU leads the GNAC shooting .770 from the free throw line (509-for-661), a mark that is currently a top-five mark in recorded program history. The Vikings consistency from the charity stripe also ranks 28th in NCAA II and WWU is 10th in the nation averaging 18.2 made three throws a game. Redshirt freshman Tijan Saine is 103-for-116 from the free throw line this season (.888), a mark that is approaching the single-season school record of .915 by John Allen in 2010-11 (65-for-71).

 

The Vikings defeated the Red Leafs 96-74 in this season's GNAC opener on December 2, with the 96 points being the most Western has scored against SFU since they reached 100 in the 2017 season. WWU leads the all-time series vs. Simon Fraser 62-28 with a 20-5 record in the 25 meetings since the Red Leafs joined the NCAA level in 2010-11. WWU is an even 4-4 over the last eight meetings dating back to the end of the 2018-19 season, with Western winning the eight games from 2015-19. WWU swept the season series last year defeating SFU 75-61 on Burnaby Mountain and 90-79 at home on Senior Night in Carver Gym.

 

WWU's conference game this week at Simon will feature a live webcast on YouTube provided by the Simon Fraser Athletics. All live links are available at wwuvikings.com/Live. All home games during the 2023-24 season will stream live on YouTube via Vikings TV and every away GNAC game contest will feature a webcast on YouTube produced by the visiting team. To watch WWU home matches on your Smart TV, navigate to the YouTube application and search for WWU Athletics, or for away games search for the opposing school's YouTube channel (example: Simon Fraser Athletics). All WWU links to follow the Vikings online can be found online, but be sure to bookmark the following links for easy access:

 

·         Vikings TV (WWU home matches)

·         GNAC Live Streams

·         Direct Link to watch WWU games (wwuvikings.com/MBB_Watch)

·         Direct Link to follow WWU games via live stats (wwuvikings.com/MBB_Stats)

 

Junior guard Kai Johnson reached the 1,000-point mark in a home game vs. Seattle Pacific, becoming the 28th player in program history to joining the 1,000 point club in program history. Johnson has now entered the Vikings all-time top-20 in points, with 1,115 points in 83 games as a Viking, including 971 in the last two seasons. Johnson's 609 points in 28 games so far equal a 21.8 points per game average to lead the GNAC and in the top 15 nationally. He is the first Viking since to cross the 600-point mark in a season since Taylor Stafford in 2016-17. Here is a look at the all-time 1,000-point scorers in program history:

 

 

WWU has made at least five three-pointers in 25 of 28 games this season and has a string of at least one three-pointer made in 361 consecutive games dating back to the start of the 2011-12 season. The Vikings are shooting 36.7-percent from beyond the arc this season (224-for-610) for the 3rd-best mark in the GNAC this season.

 

Junior forward Nic Welp has posted a team-leading seven double-doubles this season, tied for the most in the GNAC. Welp is averaging 10.2 points and a team-best 7.6 rebounds per game while starting 27 of 28 contests. He is also shooting 54.7 percent from the field (104-for-190) to lead the team and rank 6th in the conference.

 

Senior forward Jonathan Ned leads the Vikings and is 5th in the GNAC averaging 1.6 steals per game. In 27 games Ned has recorded 42 steals, while also averaging 13.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. 

 

The Vikings lead the GNAC and rank 9th in NCAA II averaging 88.7 points per game. WWU has reached the 100-point mark six times this season. The Vikings have scored at least 90 points in 10 of 28 games. Here is a look at the top 10 scoring teams in NCAA II heading into this weekend's games:

 

 

The Vikings have played nearly half of the 2023-24 season without last season's GNAC Freshman of the Year and Preseason All-GNAC selection BJ Kolly. The sophomore forward has been limited to 13 games this season due to injuries and has appeared in only five GNAC contests (last 1/18 vs. UAA). In 13 games Kolly is averaging 10.5 points, 4.3 rebounds and 0.9 blocked shots per game.

 

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season heading into this week's GNAC action:

 

 

Head coach Tony Dominguez is in his 12th season at the helm of the program, and 29th overall at WWU. Dominguez has led the Vikings to a 213-115 record (.649) and was the 2016-17 GNAC Coach of the Year. He is assisted by AJ Albritton (3rd season), Bob Hofstetter (11th season) and Atiavo Jude (11th season).

 

WWU head coach Tony Dominguez recorded his 200th career head coaching victory at the helm of the Vikings with the 81-58 victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills on November 10 in Arcata, California. Dominguez is 213-115 in his 11 seasons (12 years) since taking over in 2012-13, a .649 winning percentage. He has been associated with WWU Basketball for nearly the last 30 seasons.

 

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 1,559 all-time victories.