BELLINGHAM, Wash. – In a must-win game to keep postseason hopes alive, the Western Washington University men’s basketball team put together one of its best performances of the season in a 79-69 victory over Western Oregon University Thursday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action on WECU Court in Carver Gym.
The Vikings improved to 15-14 overall and 9-10 in GNAC play, setting up another must-win game on Saturday against Concordia (10-17, 5-14) with tip-off at 7 pm in Carver Gym. Western Oregon, the defending conference regular-season and tournament champion, dropped to 19-9 overall and 12-7 in league play.
“The guys had great energy tonight, both at the start and the finish, and really played one of their best games of the season,” said WWU head coach Tony Dominguez. “We had a lot of players contribute and I thought we moved the ball very well. It was a balanced team win.”
The Vikings balanced offensive attack led to five players reaching double-figures in points, led by 20 points on 7-for-10 shooting from junior guard Tucker Eenigenburg (Bakersfield, CA/Bakersfield College). Junior forwards Trevor Jasinsky (Camas, WA) and Cameron Retherford (Portland, OR/Portland CC) each recorded 17-point double-doubles, with Retherford grabbing a game-high 11 boards and Jasinsky 10.
“Tucker had a great shooting night and did a little bit of everything for us,” added Dominguez. “And I thought Cam was a dynamic force for us in the first half and really
Redshirt freshman guard RJ Secrest (Silverdale, WA/Central Kitsap) sparked the Vikings off the bench with a career-high 11 points, going 2-for-5 from the field and 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Junior guard Leif Anderson (Bellingham, WA/Sehome/Whatcom CC) added 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting (3-4 3FG) before leaving the game midway through the fourth quarter with an injury.
“RJ was a great spark off the bench for us…and had the best game of his career,” said Dominguez. “We are excited about RJ as a player, and it was great to see him have that confidence in the second half and knock down some big free throws.”
The game was back-and-forth early with 10 lead changes, but the Vikings used a 26-9 run over the final nine minutes of the first half to take a 43-27 lead into halftime.
WOU scored the first nine points after halftime to trim the deficit to seven points at 43-36, and got as close as five points following a 3-pointer at the 1:22 mark, but the Vikings pulled away at the free throw line hitting 23-of-24 form the charity stripe in the second half. WWU, the GNAC’s top free throw shooting team at 78.8% for the season (446-for-566) was 31-for-33 for the game.
The Wolves were led by 15 points and 9 rebounds by junior forward Riley Hawken, 11 points by Dalven Brushier and 10 points and 7 rebounds by Buster Souza. WOU shot 39.3% for the game (24-for-61) and was 7-for-27 (25.9%) from 3-point range.
