BELLINGHAM, Wash.—Battling for one of the last spots in the conference tournament, Western Washington stopped Western Oregon 79-69 inside Carver Gym on Thursday.
With the result, Western Oregon (19-9, 12-7 GNAC) is assured of the No. 4 seed in next week's GNAC Tournament. Western Washington (15-14, 9-10 GNAC) will be in the driver's seat come Saturday, but still needs a win over Concordia to stamp their ticket to the tourney.
The game started with a back-and-forth first half, seeing 10 lead changes throughout the first 10 minutes of play. The Wolves never led by more than three in the game, but held a lead for 7:45 of the first half before a late WWU run.
Trailing 18-17 with 9:33 left in the first half, Western Washington went on a 19-3 run over the next six minutes and closed the half leading by 16.
Trevor Jasinsky led all scorers into the locker room with 11 first-half points and seven rebounds. Tucker Eenigenburg added on another 10 for the Vikings off the bench. Eenigenburg finished with a game-high 20 points and WWU's bench finished the night with 42 points.
Western Oregon shot just 34.4 percent from the field in the first half and were 3-of-15 from deep.
Riley Hawken finished one rebound shy of a double-double for the Wolves, going for 15 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes.
The Vikings found their way to the free throw line steadily throughout the night, hitting 31-of-33 free throws for the second-highest total by a team in the GNAC this season.
The Wolves found solid footing in the second half, out-scoring WWU 42-36 after the break, but the halftime deficit of 16 proved too large to overcome. WOU was within five points with 1:22 left to play before the Vikings went on a 5-0 run to close the game and seal the win.
Dalven Brushier added on 11 points and two boards for WOU, playing 30 minutes in the start.
Buster Souza added another 10 points off the bench, pulling in seven rebounds for the reserve unit.
The win was the third straight at home for Western Washington over the Wolves. WWU has won five of the last seven meetings in the series.
Western Oregon will close out the regular season across the border against Simon Fraser University on Saturday. Opening tip against the Clan is set for 7 p.m. March 2 in Burnaby, B.C.
