BURNABY, BC – Western Washington University senior forward Deandre Dickson recorded a 17-point, 13-rebound double-double to lead the Vikings to a 69-54 road victory over Simon Fraser University Tuesday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action in West Gym.
The Vikings won their seventh consecutive game to improve to 12-3 overall and remain atop the GNAC standings with a perfect 7-0 league mark. SFU falls to 8-7 overall and 2-5 in GNAC play.
Western put together a dominating second half, turning a four-point halftime advantage into the 15-point victory. WWU led by as many as 24 points in the second half and held the Clan to 22 points over the final 20 minutes of the game, an opponent season low. The Vikings defense limited SFU to a 37.5 field goal percentage, with a 31.3 mark in the second half (10-for-32).
WWU again dominated the boards with a 50-29 advantage in rebounds, and an 18-8 edge in offensive rebounds. Dickson and junior guard Trey Drechsel(Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian) tied for the game high with 13 rebounds apiece.
In addition to Dickson’s team-high fifth double-double of the season, sophomore guard/forward Trevor Jasinsky(Camas, WA) added 13 points (4-10 FG, 2-5 3FG) and sophomore forward Daulton Hommes (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) had 11 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks. Junior guard Siaan Rojas (Concord, CA/Santa Rosa JC) started his first game of the season, scoring 10 points with 8 rebounds. Drechsel dished out a team-high 6 assists to go with his 13 rebounds.
SFU guard Kedar Salam, the GNAC and USBWA Division II National Player of the Week, scored a game-high 26 points on 11-for-22 shooting.
The Vikings held a 4-point lead at the half, 36-32, storming back from an 8-point deficit midway through the half. After trailing 19-11 at the 13:46 mark, WWU went on a 13-4 run to pull ahead 25-24 on a Brett Kingma (Sr., G, Mill Creek, WA/Jackson) 3-pointer. SFU retook the lead on the next possession, but the Vikings led for the remainder of the half extending their lead to as many as 8 points at 33-25. SFU closed the half on a 7-3 run to pull to within four points at the half. Dickson led Western with 14 points on 7-for-9 shooting, scoring 8 consecutive points over a two-minute stretch to help build the lead to 8 points. Jasinsky added 11 points on 3-for-7 shooting (2-4 3FG) and Hommes had 7 points (3-5 FG). Salam led SFU with 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting.
WWU opened the second half with an 8-2 run, and never looked back while building its lead to as many as 24 points at 69-45. Rojas scored all 10 of his points in the second half to lead the Vikings.
The Vikings (12-3, 7-0) continue GNAC play this weekend travelling to face Montana State Billings on Saturday at 7:30 pm MT/6:30 pm PT. The game from Alterowitz Gym will stream live online via GNAC.tv.
Game Notes: WWU used just its second starting lineup combination of the season, as 7-foot center Logan Schilder (8.2 points, 7.4 rebounds/game) was held out with a sprained left ankle…Daulton Hommes has scored in double-digits in 14 of 15 games this season…Dickson’s 5 double-doubles are 4th-most in the GNAC…WWU leads the GNAC and is in the top five in the nation with a +13.3 rebounding margin…also lead the conference with 42.9 rebounds per game…WWU now leads the all-time series vs. SFU 56-24 and has won the last 6 games in the series (and 18 of last 19).
Courtesy of WWU Athletics.
