Tuesday, January 2, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. –  Taking down a pair of GNAC teams on the road was exactly what the Vikings did to secure first place heading into the new year. To add to its solid performances, Western Washington men’s basketball has also been awarded the Red Lion/GNAC Team of the Week honor.

The Vikings ended the calendar year on a high note with two conference road wins to improve to 4-0 in GNAC play. On Thursday, Western Washington earned an 86-80 victory over Seattle Pacific before snapping Saint Martin’s two-game win streak with Saturday’s 90-86 win in Lacey.

Western Washington is the only undefeated team in GNAC men’s play and has averaged 90 points per game through their four conference contests. In its previous two games, WWU averaged 88 points while shooting 51.3 percent from the field and almost 80 percent from the free throw line.

With a quartet of starters scoring in double figures, Western Washington used a 51.6 percent shooting night to win a narrow back-and-forth affair over the Falcons. Junior guard Trey Drechsel led the Vikings with 27 points while senior forward Deandre Dickson and sophomore forward Daulton Hommes each accounted for 17.

“We had a very balanced attacked and got some great performances tonight,” said Western Washington head coach Tony Dominguez on the matchup against SPU. “We had only one practice after the break, so once we started to work together, move the ball around and take better shots, it all came together. This is a good win against a very talented and well-coached team.”

Western Washington continued its GNAC tear by handing the Saints their first home loss of the season. Hommes, the reigning GNAC Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, collected a game-high 29 points while junior forward Siaan Rojas supplied 12 points off the bench. The Vikings used good free throw shooting to overcome SMU’s 16 second-chance points as Western Washington converted 26 free throws on 81 percent shooting from the charity stripe and led for all but 1 minute, 5 seconds of the contest.

“I am really proud of our team for how they have mentally prepared for these games and battled through some adversity,” said Dominguez. “We played a very good team tonight on the road and [our players] did everything we asked. I thought our bench players, especially Rojas, did a phenomenal job tonight and overall it was a good team effort.”

The two wins give the Vikings an undefeated road record this season and WWU has won their last 12 GNAC contests dating back to last season. Western Washington hosts Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington this week before embarking on a four-game road starting Jan. 9.