FAIRBANKS, Alaska – The Western Washington University men’s basketball team received 25 points from junior guard Trey Drechsel and 23 points from sophomore forward Daulton Hommes in an 86-74 road victory over Alaska Fairbanks Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play on Alaska Airlines Court.
The first-place Vikings remained perfect in GNAC play at 9-0 and improved to 14-3 overall with their ninth consecutive victory. WWU heads into the final game of the first half of the league ledger on Saturday with a one-game lead over Western Oregon (8-1). Alaska Fairbanks, the reigning GNAC Team of the Week, had its three-game winning streak halted to fall to 7-8 overall and 5-4 in league play.
WWU led by as many as 15 points early in the first half, but the game had several swings in momentum with eight lead changes and three tie scores. The Nanooks had a one-point lead at 65-64 with 8:51 remaining in the game and tied the game at 69-69 with 7:04 remaining. A Deandre Dickson layup with 6:32 remaining sparked an 11-0 WWU run to pull away from the 69-69 deadlock, and the Vikings put the game away finishing with a 17-5 edge for the 12-point victory.
“I felt like we were mentally prepared for a very good Fairbanks team, playing on the road,” commented head coach Tony Dominguez. “We had good energy on defense most of the night and It was fun to see some three-pointers drop. We felt like our defense was our key down the stretch.”
Drechsel (Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian) led all players with 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting, scoring 21 of his points in the first half. The reigning GNAC Player of the Week connected on 5-of-7 3-point shots and also had 6 rebounds and 5 assists while playing all 40 minutes.
Hommes (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) scored 12 of his 23 points in the second half, and was 7-for-11 from the field. He tied his career high with five 3-pointers and finished just short of a double-double with 8 rebounds.
Dickson (Easton, CA/Bakersfield College) added 15 points on 7-for-13 shooting and sophomore guard Trevor Jasinsky (Camas, WA) also reached double-figures with 12 points (4-for-9 FG), and had a career-high 5 assists. Junior sixth man Siaan Rojas (Concord, CA/Santa Rosa JC) contributed 9 points off the bench and junior center Logan Schilder (Bellingham, WA/Whatcom CC) grabbed a game-high 9 rebounds.
Overall the Vikings shot 56.4% from the field (31-for-55) and made a season-high 12 3-pointers (12-for-24). WWU out-rebounded the Alaska 32-28 and had a 4-0 advantage in blocked shots.
Davis Kimble led four Nanooks in double-figure scoring, totaling 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting. Kimble was limited to just 4 points in the second half after leading UAF with 13 first-half points. Michael Kluting added 13 points, Tre Eisenhut had 12 and Amenofis Mitchell recorded 11 points off the bench.
The Vikings jumped out to an early 20-5 lead, including a 14-0 start to the game, before the Nanooks climbed back into the game. Trailing 20-5, UAF went on a 22-5 run to take a 27-25 lead and forged ahead by three points at 31-25 with 5:43 remaining in the half. The Vikings finished on a 19-9 run to take a 7-point lead into halftime.
Drechsel led all players with 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting and was 5-for-6 from 3-point range. He scored WWU’s last nine points of the half on three-pointers, including a 25-footer to beat the buzzer. Hommes also reached double-figures in the first 20 minutes with 11 points on 3-for-5 shooting, all from 3-point range. Overall the Vikings shot 57.1% from the floor (16-for-28) and were 10-for-17 (58.8%) from 3-point range. UAF was led by 15 points from Davis Kimble (6-for-10 FG).
Western built the lead to 9 points at 60-51 with just over 15 minutes remaining in the game, before UAF staged another comeback. The Nanooks answered with an 8-0 run to pull to within one point at 60-59 and pulled ahead 65-64 with another 6-0 spurt. A Kimble layup with 7:04 remaining leveled the score at 69-69, before the Vikings went on the decisive 17-5 run to complete the victory.
The Vikings (14-3, 9-0) close out their four-game road trip and the first half of the GNAC slate on Saturday at Alaska Anchorage (7 pm AKT/8 pm PT). The game against the Seawolves will stream live online via GNAC.tv.
Game Notes: WWU’s 9-game winning streak moves into a tie for 10th in the WWU record books, and is the longest since a 10-game streak at the end of the 2014-15 season…Drechsel leads the team with six 20-point games and is averaging a team-high 18.6 points per game in GNAC play…Hommes has scored in double-digits in 16 of 17 games and leads the team averaging 18.5 points per game (3rd in GNAC)…Tony Dominguez is 126-46 (.733) in his six seasons leading the Vikings and 76-27 in GNAC play (.738)…WWU was 12-for-14 from the free throw line and leads the GNAC with a 76.8 season free-throw percentage (298-for-388)…WWU’s 12 3-pointers set a season high, breaking the 10 made in the season opener vs. Notre Dame de Namur…WWU was 1-4 in previous five trips to Fairbanks.
About WWU Basketball:
One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in seven of the last nine 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 2011-12 NCAA Division II National Championship and advanced the following season to the NCAA II Final Four. Western is coming off a 2016-17 season where the program went 25-6, winning the GNAC regular season and conference championships title, and advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships as the No. 3 seed in the West Region. The program enters its 116th season, having combined for 1,472 victories and a .591 winning percentage.
— @WWUHoops —
