LANGLEY, B.C. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team finished its game against Central Oklahoma University on a 16-4 run, turning a six-point deficit into a six-point 69-63 victory Sunday to finish play in the D2 Canadian Tip-Off Classic.
The Vikings (1-2) trailed 59-53 with just under five minutes remaining with an Aidan Rice dunk igniting the comeback at the 4:44 mark. WWU went 9-for-11 at the free throw line down the stretch scoring 14 of the final 16 points in the game to earn its first victory of the season.
Rice led three Vikings in double-digit scoring with 19 points on 6-for-9 shooting, including 3-for-5 from three-point range. Junior guard Nehemiah Pollard added 14 points scoring half his total from the free throw line (7-for-10) and senior forward Garrett Levesque had 11 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Junior guard Malachi Miller contributed nine points in 27 minutes and senior forward Dajon Lott Jr. sparked the Vikings with eight points and four blocked shots in 18 minutes.
UCO (1-2) was led by 18 points by Jacobi Sebock and 17 points from Josh Nwankwo.
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NCAA Basketball
|
1st
|
2nd
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Final
|
|
Western Washington (1-2)
|
35
|
34
|
69
|
|
Central Oklahoma (1-2)
|
30
|
33
|
63
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The Vikings (1-2) are off next week and return to action for the early part of the 2025-26 season playing a pair of games in the West Region Tip-Off Classic against Cal Poly Humboldt (Nov. 14, 5 pm) and San Francisco State (Nov. 15, 5 pm) in a two-day tournament hosted by Dominican University in San Rafael, California. The complete 2025-26 WWU men's basketball schedule is available online at WWUVikings.com.
Here is a look at the statistical comparison between WWU and Central Oklahoma:
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COMPARISON
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WWU
|
UCO
|
|
Points
|
69
|
63
|
|
Field Goal Pct.
|
.468 (22-57)
|
.359 (23-64)
|
|
3 Point FG Pct.
|
.368 (7-19)
|
.273 (3-11)
|
|
Free Throw Pct.
|
.750 (18-24)
|
.933 (14-15)
|
|
Rebounds
|
29
|
34
|
|
Offensive Rebounds
|
7
|
16
|
|
Assists
|
14
|
8
|
|
Turnovers
|
18
|
16
|
|
Steals
|
8
|
9
|
|
Blocked Shots
|
10
|
1
|
|
Time Led
|
29:23
|
8:20
|
|
Points off Turnovers
|
13
|
25
|
|
Points in the Paint
|
30
|
38
|
|
Bench Points
|
22
|
4
|
|
Fouls
|
15
|
20
|
|
Biggest Lead
|
11
|
6
|
|
Lead Changes: 8 Times Tied: 7
|
Here is a look at the Vikings record breakdown for the 2025-26 season:
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RECORD BREAKDOWN
|
|
Overall
|
1-2
|
|
GNAC
|
0-0
|
|
Non-Conference
|
1-2
|
|
Streak
|
W1
|
|
Home
|
0-0
|
|
Away
|
0-0
|
|
Neutral
|
1-2
|
|
vs. Ranked Teams
|
0-0
|
|
Leading at Half
|
1-0
|
|
Trailing at Half
|
0-2
|
|
Tied at Half
|
0-0
|
|
Overtime
|
0-0
|
|
BY UNIFORM
|
|
White
|
0-2
|
|
Black
|
1-0
|
|
Navy
|
0-0
|
|
Light Blue
|
0-0
|
2025-26 WWU BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
The complete schedules for the 2025-26 WWU men's basketball team can be viewed by clicking on the link below. Season tickets can be reserved at WWUVikings.com/Tickets. Single-game tickets are available for all games at the Carver Gym Box Office one hour prior to tip-off for each game or by the online box office.
· Men's Basketball Schedule
· GNAC Schedule
