BURNABY, B.C. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team closed out the 2023-24 season with an 89-74 road victory over Simon Fraser University Saturday evening in West Gym.

Playing some of its best basketball of the season, WWU extended hits late-season winning streak to three consecutive games, but fell just short of a late push to the playoffs with a 17-12 overall record and 9-9 mark in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Vikings finished just outside of the top six in the conference in 7th place to narrowly miss a spot in the GNAC Championships next week in Ellensburg.

Western needed three things to happen to advance to the postseason, taking care of its own business with the win at SFU, but both Alaska Anchorage and Seattle Pacific recorded wins eliminating the possibility of a three-way tie for 5th-place in the standings which would have sent the Vikings to the postseason.

The Vikings held a 45-40 halftime lead and poured it on in the second half out-scoring SFU 44-34 to record the 15-point victory.

Junior guard Will Wilson led all players with 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting, with 19 of his points coming in the second half.

Junior guard Kai Johnson added 18 points to finish the season averaging 21.6 points per game to tie for 3rd-best in WWU program history. Johnson scored in double-digits in all 29 games during the season, finishing with 627 total points. In Saturday's win Johnson also led the team with eight rebounds and five assists.

Senior Jonathan Ned (16 points) and junior Nic Welp (12 points) also scored in double-digits for the Vikings. Western combined to shoot 53.4-percent in the game (31-for-58) and was 12-for-23 (.522) from three-point range. Wilson and Johnson each hit a trio of three-pointers.

SFU (6-23, 4-14 GNAC) was led by 24 points by David Penny, who crossed the 1,000-point mark during his collegiate career. Immanuel Oludele added 17 points on 7-for-13 shooting and Elliot Dimaculangan had 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds. 

With the score tied 66-66 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half, the Vikings went on an 18-4 run over a stretch of seven minutes to put the game out of reach. Will Wilson jumpstarted the run scoring seven consecutive points to put the Vikings up 73-66. At one point Wilson scored 13 consecutive points for the Vikings to turn a tight game into a 15-point victory.

Junior guard Will Wilson completed a solid first season with the Vikings being selected as the WECU Player of the Game in the 15-point victory over Simon Fraser. Wilson scored a game-high 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting, pouring in 19 points in the second half. Wilson averaged 15.8 points per game during the 2023-24 season.

Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and SFU:

The Vikings completed the season sweep over SFU also winning in Bellingham 96-74 on December 2. WWU leads the all-time series 63-28 with a 21-5 mark in the last 26 meetings since the Red Leafs joined the NCAA in 2010-11. 

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

Here is a look at the final 2023-24 GNAC Men's Basketball standings, with the Vikings finishing in 7th place in the table with a 9-9 record, just missing out on a spot in the GNAC Championships Tournament:

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2023-24 season following the 15-point road win over SFU:

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, WWU has recorded a 20-win season in eight of the last 13 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 six years (and seven of 11) and won the 2020 GNAC Championships Tournament. WWU is amongst the top 15 winningest Division II programs with its 1,560 all-time victories.