ELLENSBURG, Wash. – The Western Washington University men’s basketball team overcame a slow start and had four players reach double-figures in scoring that led the Vikings to a 73-65 victory over in-state rival Central Washington Saturday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action in Nicholson Pavilion.
WWU fell behind 8-0 to start the game, but rallied to take a 34-31 halftime lead, and build a double-digit lead in the second half before ending with the eight-point victory over the Wildcats.
The Vikings improved to 9-7 overall and evened its conference record at 3-3. CWU had its two-game win streak snapped falling to 8-6 overall and 2-4 in GNAC play.
Junior forward Trevor Jasinsky (Camas, WA) led the Vikings with 15 points, shooting 5-for-15 from the field and was 3-for-3 from the free throw line. Jasinsky added a game-high 8 rebounds.
Junior guard Tucker Eenigenburg (Bakersfield, CA/Bakersfield College) had the hot hand shooting, connecting on 4-of-7 shots and was 3-for-5 from 3-point range while scoring 13 points. Freshman Jalen Green (Renton, WA/Lindbergh) had a 12-point, 6 rebound performance and redshirt junior guard Leif Anderson (Bellingham, WA/Sehome) contributed 10 points and a career-high 5 assists.
The Wildcats were led by a game-high 18 points from Matt Poquette, who hit 6 of his 13 shots in 26 minutes of action. Jackson Price (14 points) and Gamaun Boykin (11 points) also reached double-digits in scoring.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Vikings shot 41.8% from the floor for the game (28-for-67), including 48.4 percent in the second half (15-for-31)…WWU was out-rebounded 42-37, but had held a 9-3 edge in steals…Western was 11-for-28 form 3-point range (39.3%), including 6-for-15 (40.0%) in the second half.
THE RUN THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE
Leading by three points at the half 34-31, the Vikings came out of the break on fire, scoring the first 7 points to take a 10-point lead at 41-31. Central climbed back into the game going on an 11-5 run to pull to within 2 points at the 13:23 mark in the second half. WWU answered with an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 8 points at 54-46. While leading 56-50, the Vikings all but put the game away with three consecutive 3-pointers, two by Tucker Eenigenburg, to take their largest lead of the game at 14 points at 65-51.
SLOW START, FAST FIRST HALF FINISH
The Vikings got off to a slow start, allowing the Wildcats to score the first 8 points of the game and trailed 10-2. But WWU went on a furious 16-4 run to gain a 4-point lead at 18-14. From there a back-and-forth affair ensued with four lead changes down the stretch. WWU extended its lead to 6 points at 34-28 following 5 consecutive points by Tucker Eenigenburg in the last minute of the half. CWU hit a last-second 3-pointer to pull to within 3 points at 34-31 heading into the break. Jalen Green (3-for-8 FG) and Trevor Jasinsky (2-for-7 FG) lead WWU, which shot 36.1 percent in the half (13-for-36, 5-for-13 3FG). CWU was led by 7 points from Jackson Price (3-for-3 FG), with the Wildcats shooting 46.7 percent in the half (14-for-30, 3-for-6 3FG).
ALL-TIME SERIES
WWU is 17-5 over the last 22 games in the series dating back to the 2009-10 season. CWU leads the all-time series 156-102.
