LACEY, Wash. – The Western Washington University men's basketball team continued its hot streak defeating Saint Martin's University 91-81 on the road for the Vikings ninth victory in the last 10 games.

WWU jumped into a tie for 4th place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference standings at 9-6 in league play and nears the 20-win mark at 17-8. The Vikings closed out the road portion of the regular-season schedule with its sixth consecutive win away from Bellingham, improving to 7-3 on the road and 9-4 in away games. WWU's impressive 9-1 record in the last 10 GNAC games comes after starting the conference slate 0-5.

For the second-consecutive game the Western scoring attack was led by sophomore guard Tijan Saine, who backed up his career-high 37-point effort Thursday at Western Oregon with a game-high 29 points Saturday vs. the Saints. Saine was 8-for-14 from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line. He also chipped in with a game-high eight assists while playing all 40 minutes.

Facing an early game deficit following an early 13-0 Saint Martin's run, the Vikings answered with a 17-3 run of their own to take a 28-21 lead with 5:20 left in the first half. They would end the half with a 39-32 lead and never trailed in the second half enroute to the 10-point victory.

Along with Saine, the Vikings got contributions from their backcourt with freshman guard Aidan Rice finishing with a career-high 17 points in 27 minutes off the bench and redshirt freshman guard Grant Kepley added 15 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Trevor White and Garrett Levesque rounded out the Vikings to finish with double-digit points, with White chipping in 12 points and five rebounds and Levesque nearing a double-double with 10 points, nine rebounds and a game-high five steals.

The Saints, who dropped to 8-6 in conference play (19-8 overall), were led by Myles Samuels who finished with 13 points on 6-for-11 shooting. Jaden Nielsen-Skinner had 12 points, 6 rebounds and 7 assists while Dyson Lighthall adding 12 points and a game-high 6 blocked shots.

Tijan Saine scored 66 points in the Vikings two road wins over Western Oregon (37 points) and Saint Martin's (29 points) combining to average 33.0 points on 17-for-30 shooting from the field (8-for-13 3FG) and 24-for-25 from the free throw line…Garrett Levesque led all players with nine rebounds and has led the Vikings in rebounds in three straight and four of the last five games.

The Vikings (17-8, 9-6 GNAC) is back in action next Saturday hosting Simon Fraser in a 3 pm game on WECU Court in Carver Gym, with the women's game vs. the Red Leafs following at 7 pm. WWU completes the regular season with three consecutive home games in Carver Gym. The complete season schedule, complete with links on how to watch the games, can be viewed online at wwuvikings.com/MBB.

WWU will host WECU Night next Saturday with a doubleheader against Simon Fraser with the men's game at 3 pm and the women's game at 7 pm for Senior Night. WECU Night features up to four free tickets for WECU members by showing their card at the box office. A free WECU/WWU scarf will also be given away to the first 300 fans at each game.

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

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

WWU clinched the regular-season sweep over the Saints adding a 77-75 buzzer-beater victory in Bellingham on January 16 to Saturday's 10-poitn 91-81 road victory. WWU now leads the all-time series over the Saints 138-70…the Vikings snapped a three-game losing streak vs. SMU in Lacey and recorded their first season sweep over the Saints since 2019-20.

Here is a look at the 2024-25 GNAC Men's Basketball standings and overall records through Saturday's action. 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. CWU has clinched a spot in the GNAC Tournament.

Here is a game-by-game look at the 2024-25 season following the 10-point road victory over 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 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 1,577 all-time victories.