NW Washington News

Western Washington University and Saint Martin's University battled it out in a back-and-forth men's college basketball contest Thursday evening to open the second half of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule on WECU Court in Carver Gym.

 

The Vikings and Saints went back-and-forth in a game that featured nine lead changes and six ties, with each team leading the game for just over 17 minutes in the 40-minute contest.

 

Saint Martin's prevailed with a four-point 75-71 victory to sweep the regular-season series over WWU, also winning by five points earlier this season in Lacey.

 

WWU dropped to 11-9 overall and slipped into a sixth-place tie at 4-6 in league play, while SMU improved to 16-4 overall and moved into a second-place tie in the GNAC standings at 8-2 in the GNAC standings.

 

The Vikings held a two-point 40-38 lead at halftime and led by as many as nine points late in the first half, but were not able hold off the Saints down the stretch while closing the gap to one possession several times.

 

Redshirt freshman forward BJ Kolly paced the Vikings with a 16-point, 10-rebound double-double on 8-for-12 shooting and senior guard Daniel Hornbuckle scored 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting with a trio of three-pointers and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Kai Johnson added 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.

 

The Saints featured four players scoring in double-digits, led by a game-high 18 points by guard Branden Bunn and a 13-point, 11-assist double-double by guard Jaden Nielsen-Skinner.

 

WWU out-shot Saint Martin's 47.5-percent (28-for-59) to 39.7-percent (27-for-68), but the Saints scored 20 points off 17 Viking turnovers to key the comeback victory.

 

The Vikings close out a four-game homestand Saturday evening hosting Western Oregon (8-9, 5-5 GNAC) at 7 pm on WECU Court in Carver Gym. WWU will celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the 2012 national championship men's basketball team in a pregame reunion and halftime ceremony.

Original source can be found here