Thursday, March 28, 2013

LOUISVILLE - Guard John Allen  led a balanced attack with 22 points and center Austin Bragg   posted a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds as Western Washington opened up an early lead and advanced to the national semifinals with a 96-82 triumph over Florida Southern Thursday at historic Freedom Hall.

The defending national champion Vikings, ranked No. 4 nationally in the final NABC NCAA Division II Top 25 poll and the West Region champion, improved to 31-2. The 31 victories ties the school record set last year.

With the triumph, WWU advances to the national semifinals on Saturday where it faces either Drury or South Carolina-Aiken. That contest will be televised live at 11:30 a.m. PDT on CBS Sports Network and shown on tape delay beginning at 6:30 p.m. PDT on Root Sports Northwest. It will be broadcast on KPUG 1170 radio.

Florida Southern, ranked No.8 nationally and the South Region champion, had an eight-game winning streak snapped as they completed their season 27-6. Kevin Capers came off the bench to lead the Moccasins with a game-high 27 points.

Guard Richard Woodworth  had 17points for WWU. Cameron Severson came off the bench to contribute 14 points and forward Paul Jones added 10.

“I thought it was an outstanding game for us and Florida Southern,” said WWU coach Tony Dominguez. “They are very talented and extremely well coached; they knew how to hit our weaknesses very well. We’re just very fortunate to come away with this game.”

The Vikings shot 58.1 percent (25-of-43) in the opening half, and held a 59-47 lead at halftime after leading by as many as 17 points. The key burst was a 13-2 run in a span of less than three minutes that opened up a 28-16 advantage midway through the first half.

Capers kept the Moccasins in shouting distance by scoring 19 points and grabbing six rebounds in the opening half, going 6-of-10 from the field and 7-of-11 on free throws.

The Vikings again led by 17 early in the second half, but Florida Southern used a run of seven straight points to close the margin to 10 at  69-59 with 14 minutes left.

From there, WWU had to survive foul trouble, as four Vikings had four fouls with a little less than eight minutes remaining. The lead got down to 10 multiple times before finally getting to nine (84-75) on a basket by Cameron Vines with 3:17 left, but never was less than nine after that.

“I was not real concerned to be honest (with the foul trouble).” said Dominguez. “Obviously it was a little frustrating, but we’ve got a good bench.”

WWU shot 55.1 percent (38-of-69) from the field, but Florida Southern attempted 18 more free throws than the Vikings, going 29-of-40 (72.5 percent).

Florida Southern, which entered the contest averaging eight makes and 24.3 attempts per game from 3-point range, finished 5-of-18. The Mocassins did not make their first three until 3:48 remained in the first half after missing their first four.

This is the third Elite Eight trip for the Vikings, who have won five of six games. In addition to winning the national title last year, they reached the national semifinals in 2001.

Allen moved into 12th place among WWU career scoring leaders, extending his total to 1,475.

The Vikings are aiming to become the first team to repeat as NCAA Division II champions since Cal State Bakersfield did so in 1994.