BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team closes out the first half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday crossing the border to face Simon Fraser University Saturday with tip-off at 7:30 pm in West Gym.

 

WWU carries a three-game winning streak into the game vs. the Red Leafs and is tied for 6th place in the GNAC at 3-5 heading into the 9th of 18 games in conference play (11-7 overall). A win Saturday would put the Vikings one game below the .500 mark in conference play heading into the crucial second half of the season.

 

The Vikings are coming off a pair of home wins last week on WECU Court in Carver Gym, defeating then No. 17 Saint Martin's 77-75 on a Tijan Saine buzzer beater and two nights later held off Western Oregon with a 90-86 victory. The current winning streak started with an 84-70 road win over defending GNAC champion Montana State Billings on January 11.

 

After opening the season 6-1 and completing the non-conference portion of the schedule 8-2, the Vikings opened GNAC play dropping their first five games. WWU has rebounded to put the team in a good spot for a postseason playoff spot in the second half.

 

The Vikings feature five players averaging double-digits in scoring, led by reigning GNAC Player of the Week Will Wilson (16.3) and redshirt freshman guard Grant Kepley (14.8). WWU is 2nd in the GNAC averaging 81.3 points per game and is also listed No. 2 with a team field goal percentage of 48.0 (535-for-1115).

 

 

The Vikings close out the first half of the 18-game conference schedule Saturday crossing the border to play at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby on January 25. Both WWU teams will play at SFU, with the Viking women tipping off vs. the Red Leafs at 5:15 pm in West Gym, followed by the WWU men vs. SFU at 7:30 pm. Both games on Burnaby Mountain will feature a live and free webcast on SFU's YouTube channel. 

 

After opening the conference schedule with five consecutive losses, the Vikings have turned things around winning their last three GNAC games to improve to 3-5 in league play. A win Saturday at Simon Fraser would bring the team to one game of .500 in conference play with nine games remaining. WWU enters Saturday's contest tied for 6th in the standings with Montana State Billings and Alaska Anchorage.

 

WWU remains on the road next week traveling even further North for its annual trip to Alaska. The Vikings play at Alaska Anchorage on Thursday (Jan. 30) with tip-off at 7:30 pm AKT/8:30 pm PT inside the Alaska Airlines Center and face Alaska Fairbanks on Saturday (Feb. 1) at 3:15 pm AKT/4:15 pm PT in the Patty Center. Western's next home game is February 6 hosting Montana State Billings for Black History Night in Carver Gym.

 

WWU's remaining 10 games are all Great Northwest Athletic Conference games, with the next three games on the road. All 10 GNAC teams play an 18-game league schedule, with the top six teams in the standings at the end of the regular season advancing to the GNAC Championships that will be held March 6-8 at Marcus Pavilion in Lacey.

 

The Vikings extended their winning streak to three consecutive games defeating No. 17 Saint Martin's 77-75 on a Tijan Saine buzzer beater and came back two nights later holding off Western Oregon down the stretch for a 90-86 victory. Senior guard Will Wilson had a big week combining to score 49 points in the two games on 16-for-27 shooting (59.3%), was 6-for-10 from beyond the arc and was perfect 11-for-11 from the free throw line. He also contributed averages of 4.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game to earn GNAC Player of the Week honors for the second time this season.

 

Four of the Vikings seven losses this season are by a combined 11 points. WWU dropped its first game of the season vs. Westminster on a half-court buzzer beater (66-63) and opened GNAC play with a pair of tight games falling at Northwest Nazarene by one point (75-74) and Central Washington (79-76). The Vikings are 11-7 on the season heading into the remaining 10 conference games of the season.

 

Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2024-25 season:

 

 

Saturday's 7:30 pm game at Simon Fraser will feature a live (and free) webcast on YouTube with a direct link available at WWUVikings.com/Live. All home games will stream live on YouTube via Vikings TV. Additionally, every away GNAC game will feature a webcast on YouTube produced by the visiting team. To watch WWU home games 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: SFU 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

·         GNAC Live Streams

·         Direct Link to watch games – wwuvikings.com/MBB_Watch

·         Direct Link to follow live stats – wwuvikings.com/MBB_Stats

 

Here is a look at the series history between WWU and its opponent this week:

 

·         Simon Fraser: WWU and SFU meet for the first of two regular-season games, with the Red Leafs playing in Bellingham on February 22 (3 pm). The Vikings have a four-game winning streak over SFU, sweeping each of the last two season series including a 96-74 win at home last season and 89-74 in Burnaby. WWU leads the all-time series 63-28 with a 21-5 mark in the last 26 meetings.

 

Redshirt freshman guard Grant Kepley has been filling the stat sheet in his first collegiate season averaging 14.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.6 steals per game…while shooting 508-percent from the field (91-for-179), 46.3-percent from three-point range (25-for-54) and 85.6-percent from the free throw line (44-for-45). Among GNAC leaders Kepley ranks 11th in scoring average, 3rd in assists, 7th in steals, 13th in field goal percentage, 2nd in three-point field goal percentage and 4th in free throw percentage.

 

Senior guard Will Wilson is averaging a team-best 16.3 points per game to rank 3rd in the GNAC, and is coming off a GNAC Player of the Week performance averaging 24.5 points per game in wins over Saint Martin's and Western Oregon. Wilson is also averaging 4.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and shooting 49.8-percent from the field (101-for-203) while starting all 18 games. He has scored in double-digits in 15 of 18 games with six 20-point performances (3 of last 4 games). Wilson was an honorable mention All-GNAC selection during his first WWU season averaging 15.8 points per game in 2023-24. Including junior college stops at State Fair CC and Mt. Hood CC, Wilson is making a run at 2,000 career points scoring 1,745 points in 100 career games (17.5 points per game).

 

Sophomore guard Tijan Saine hit the Vikings second buzzer-beater of the season capping the 77-75 win over then No. 17 Saint Martin's on January 16. Saine raced the length of the court with 5.1 seconds remaining on the clock and hit a floating layup as time expired to seal the victory and his 15-poing performance. WWU also won at the buzzer defeating No. 12 Cal State Dominguez Hills on opening night with freshman Aidan Rice hitting the game-winning three-pointer at time expired. Western was dealt a buzzer-beater loss on a half-court three-pointer by Westminster on November 21.

 

The Vikings have had three players combined for four GNAC Player of the Week honors so far during the 2024-25 season, the most by a WWU squad since 2017-18 (Hommes-2, Drechsel-2), with Grant Kepley (Dec. 9-15) and sophomore guard Louis Grante-Halliday (Nov. 11-17) joining Wilson's early-season award in November and recent recognition this week. Here is a look at the complete list of GNAC Player of the Week awards from this season:

 

 

Freshman forward Trevor White leads the team and ranks 8th in the GNAC averaging 1.0 blocked shots per game. Over the last three games White has been a force for the Vikings averaging 13.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.3 blocked shots per game. For the season he is averaging 10.1 points while shooting 51.8-percent (73-for-141) to rank No. 10 in the GNAC.

 

Sophomore guard Tijan Saine has scored in double digits in seven of 12 games and is averaging 13.1 points per game. Saine has connected on 19 three-pointers this season and is 57-for-142 from beyond the arc in 41 career games at WWU.

 

Junior forward Garrett Levesque has started the Vikings last seven games, averaging 7.4 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. For the season Levesque ranks 4th in the GNAC shooting 58.8-percent from the field (47-for-80).

 

Junior forward Dajon Lott came to WWU after a standout two-year career at Sacramento City College, where he scored 879 points and grabbed 485 rebounds in 55 games for the Panthers. Lott is now one point shy of 1,000 for his collegiate career entering Saturday's game with 120 points in 17 games this season (7.1 ppg).

 

Here is a look at the 2024-25 GNAC Men's Basketball standings and overall records heading into this week's schedule to complete the first half of the conference schedule. Updated standings and conference statistics can be viewed online at GNACSports.com. The top six teams in the conference standings at the end of the regular season will qualify for the GNAC Championships held March 6-8 in Lacey:

 

 

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2024-25 season heading into this week's schedule:

 

 

WWU has made nine appearances in the NCAA Division II Championships since joining the level in 1998-99. 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 13th year and 12th season at the helm of the program, and 30th overall at WWU. Dominguez has led the Vikings to a 225-122 record (.648) and was the 2016-17 GNAC Coach of the Year. He is assisted by AJ Albritton (3rd season), Bob Hofstetter (12th season) and Atiavo Jude (12th season).

 

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 20 winningest Division II programs with its 1,571 all-time victories.