BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Western Washington University men’s basketball team received another outstanding scoring performance from junior Trevor Jasinsky, but a long second-half scoring run lifted No. 24 nationally-ranked Northwest Nazarene to a 90-79 victory over the Vikings Saturday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action in Carver Gym.
The Vikings fell to 12-12 overall and 6-8 in GNAC play, while NNU got back on the winning track after a Thursday loss at Simon Fraser to improve to 16-4 overall and 11-3 in conference play.
Jasinsky (Camas, WA) recorded his league-best 15th 20-point game of the season, scoring a game-high 23 points on 7-for-14 shooting. The junior was 3-for-8 from 3-point range, 6-for-6 from the free throw line and tied for the team-high with 7 rebounds.
Junior guard Leif Anderson (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) added 16 points, connecting on five 3-pointers, and junior guard Tucker Eenigenburg (Bakersfield, CA/Bakersfield College) had 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting. Junior forward Cameron Retherford (Portland, OR/Portland CC) contributed 12 points and 7 rebounds while making his second consecutive start.
The Nighthawks used a balanced scoring attack in the 11-point victory, featuring seven players with at least 8 points. Senior guard Obi Megwa led NNU with 20 points on 8-for-18 shooting, and also grabbed 11 rebounds for the double-double. Conference scoring leader Adonis Arms was held below his season scoring average (21.3 entering the game) with 17 points. Olamilekan Adetunji was 4-for-5 from the field and tallied a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Vikings were limited to 36.0% shooting from the floor, going 27-for-75 from the field, including 12-for-38 from 3-point range…the 38 3-point attempts are 3rd-most by the program during the GNAC era (since 2001-02)…WWU was out-rebounded 48-33, including a 38-24 margin on defensive rebounds…WWU had 17 assists and only committed 9 turnovers (18 TO by NNU)…Tyler Payne recorded a team-high 6 assists, his third straight game with 5-or-more assists (averaging 3.4 assists/game)…NNU led for 36:40, with WWU leading for one possession (00:07) late in the first half…NNU out-scored WWU in the paint 44-16 and had 14 fast-break points (WWU had none)…NNU shot 50.8% (31-for-61), the fifth time this season an opponent has shot over 50.0% in a game (third in GNAC play).
NNU PULLS AWAY IN SECOND HALF
The Vikings hung with NNU in the first six minutes of the second half, with a Trevor Jasinsky 3-pointer pulling WWU to within three points at 62-59 with 14:05 remaining in the game. The Nighthawks stalled the momentum with an immediate 5-0 run, and pulled away from a 69-65 game by going on a 12-0 run to turn a 4-point lead into a 16-point advantage.
Tucker Eenigenburg led WWU with 11 second-half points, while Obi Megwa scored 13 of his team-high 20 points in the final 20 minutes of the game.
FIRST HALF RECAP
The Vikings got off to a tough shooting start, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range, and trailed by as many as 12 points at 33-21 at the 6:54 mark. But WWU heated up from long range, hitting 4 of its next 5 3-pointers as part of a 17-5 run to pull even at 38-38 and eventually ahead 40-38. NNU scored the final five points of the half to take a 3-point 43-40 lead into the half. Trevor Jasinsky led all players with 15 points on 4-for-6 shooting (6-for-6 FT), with Leif Anderson adding 9 points on 3-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
NNU built its 12-point lead going on a 19-8 run, pulling away from a 14-13 game at the 14:46 mark. The Nighthawks featured a balanced first-half scoring attack with six players scoring at least five points. James Nelson paced NNU with 9 points, going 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
WWU shot 36.8% from the field (14-for-38), while NNU was 17-for-31 (54.8%).
JASINSKY TEARING IT UP
Trevor Jasinsky continues his amazing junior season, scoring a game-high 23 points. Jasinsky has now scored in double digits in 22 of 24 games this season and leads the GNAC with 15 games with 20-or-more points…averaging 20.0 points per game to rank 2nd in the GNAC…in two games during the week averaged 28.0 points (56 points), scoring 23 vs. NNU and a career-high 33 vs. Central Washington…now has 982 career points, 18 shy of becoming the 26th player in WWU history to reach the 1,000 point mark for a career.
UP NEXT
The Vikings face a quick turnaround returning to the road next week to begin a string of four consecutive games away from Bellingham, beginning with a Tuesday contest at Simon Fraser (12-10, 6-8) in West Gym in Burnaby, BC (7 pm). WWU then travels to play Montana State Billings for a Saturday showdown with the Yellowjackets at 7:30 pm MT/6:30 pm PT in Alterowitz Gym. Four of Western’s six remaining regular-season games are on the road.
