Friday, March 3, 2017

LACEY, Wash. – Top-seeded Western Washington blocked off a Saint Martin's hometown crowd and rode a career record night from senior Jeffrey Parker to beat the No. 4 seeded Saints 91-79 and advance to the GNAC Men's Basketball Championships final at Marcus Pavilion.

Parker finished with 23 points and became the Vikings’ all-time leading scorer in the process, surpassing Grant Dykstra (1,844 points, 2002-06). At 1,847 points, Parker now sits No. 8 on the GNAC all-time scoring list and eight points behind No. 7 Andy Avgi of Western Oregon.

The Vikings shots 56 percent from the field (14-25) and connected on 20 of 22 from the free throw line in the final 20 minutes to secure the hard-fought win. Senior guard and GNAC Player of the Year Taylor Stafford led the Vikings with 31 points as he went 7 of 19 from the field and 15 of 16 from the free throw line. That set GNAC Championships single game records in both categories, beating the previous marks of 13 made and 16 attempted by Saint Martin’s Blake Poole in 2011. Daulton Hommes added a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds, which included 15 second half points.

Saint Martin’s senior guard Tyler Copp made his final game a memorable one, leading all scorers with 36 points on 13 of 21 from the field and 6 of 8 from the free throw line. The effort is the best single-game performance in tournament history, surpassing the 34 points by Seattle Pacific’s Cory Hutsen in 2015. Cole Preston finished with 17 points while Brandon Kenilvort added 10.

With the win, the Vikings set up a battle of the westerns in the championship game. Western Washington and No. 3 seeded Western Oregon will square off on Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with the winner earning the conference’s automatic qualifer to the NCAA Division II Tournament.

Western Washington set the pace early, going on an 8-0 run to open the game which ended on a Deandre Dickson lay-up with five minutes gone. Saint Martin’s rallied right back, going on an 14-3 run of their own and took the 41-11 advantage on a Copp free throw at the 11:09 mark. The Saints would build the lead to four before the Vikings swung the momentum, going back up five points on Hommes’ jumper with 4:43 left. Parker eventually used a three-pointer with 33 seconds to go to give the Vikings a 39-32 halftime lead.

Saint Martin’s came out with purpose to begin the second half, narrowing the WWU lead to one on a Copp three-pointer at the 17:36 mark. The Vikings scored the next seven points, building the lead back to eight on Parker’s lay-in at 15:23 and eventually took a nine-point lead on Stafford’s three-pointer with 11:42 left.

The Saints challenged late, coming with three points when Brandon Kenilvort’s lay-in with 4:29 to go made it a 71-68 game. Western Washington put it away from that point, outscoring SMU 17-9 down the stretch to close it out.