Feb. 25, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

UPDATE: The Western Washington University men's basketball team makes its last road trip of the season this week, traveling to Seattle University on Thursday (7 p.m.) and to Montana State University Billings on Saturday (7 p.m.) for a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games.

The Vikings, 13-10 overall and seventh in the league standings at 6-8, lost 68-58 to arch-rival Central Washington on Feb. 23 before a crowd of 2,008. They cut a 20-point deficit to four with 3:47 left, but still lost for just the third time in 12 games this season at Carver Gym.

Western is led in scoring by junior guard Ira Graham, whose 18.6 points per game average tops the GNAC. Shooting 53.5 percent (154-of-288) from the field, he has been Western's top scorer in 17 of its 23 games and has scored double figures 20 times this season, both team bests.

Junior forward Steve Alford is averaging 11.6 points and 4.5 rebounds for the Vikings, scoring double-figures 15 times.

Junior forward Calin Schell is averaging 9.4 points on 54.2 percent field-goal shooting (90-of-166) and his team-high 7.7 rebound average ranks third in the conference. He is second among GNAC leaders in offensive rebounds (66, 2.9 avg.).

Sophomore center Steve Severin is contributing 7.0 points and is the league's fourth-leading rebounder with a 7.5 average. He ranks 13th nationally in NCAA Division II and tops the GNAC in blocked shots with 60 (2.6 avg.), 17 more than his nearest rival.

Junior guard Derrick Webb is scoring at an 8.8 per game clip, and sophomore guard Harold McAllister is averaging 5.5 points while shooting a team-leading 41.0 percent (25-of-61) from 3-point range.

Western is second among GNAC teams in scoring offense, averaging 80.4 points per game. The Vikings are doing this despite having the worst free-throw shooting campaign in school history, being next-to-last in the GNAC at 61.5 percent (337-of-549).

Western leads the GNAC in 3-point defense at 30.7 percent (117-of-381) and blocked shots (5.5 avg.).

Seattle is 16-8 overall and fourth in the GNAC standings at 9-6, winning seven of its last nine games. The Redhawks, who are moving up to NCAA I next season, won their first six games and were ranked as high as No.7 nationally before losing six of their next nine.

Last year, Seattle caught fire at the end of the season, tying for the GNAC title and reaching the West Regional semifinals.

Coach Joe Callero (94-96, 7th year) has three standout returnees, led by 6-8 senior center Ryan Coldren (12.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg). The other two are 6-7 junior forward Leigh Swanson (8.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg), who received GNAC all-star honorable mention, and 6-3 sophomore guard Ricky Berry (9.4 ppg).

Two more players back are 6-1 sophomore guard Chris Gweth (9.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg) and 6-1 junior guard Shaun Burl (6.5 ppg, 4.2 apg)

Two standout transfers for Seattle are 6-3 senior guard Michael Knight (9.2 ppg), a former McDonald's All-American nominee from University of Albany, and 6-5 junior forward Michael Wright (8.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg) from Pierce CC where he was the NWAACC West Region co-MVP in 2006-07.

The Redhawks are second among GNAC teams in scoring defense, allowing just 67.3 per game.

Western, which holds a 49-29 series advantage, won 79-68 over Seattle on Feb. 2 at Bellingham. The Vikings have prevailed in nine of the last 10 meetings.

Montana State Billings, which is in its first year as a GNAC member, is 1-25 overall and last in the conference at 1-14. The Yellowjackets have the youngest team in GNAC history with six freshmen and four sophomores making up their 10-man roster. They lost their first 16 games of the season before a 65-55 win over Alaska Fairbanks on Jan. 24 snapped an overall 18-game losing streak, and have dropped nine straight since.

Two freshmen are leading the way for coach Craig Carse (211-144, 13th year, overall 290-187, 17 yrs.). They are 6-1 guard John Brooks (13.7 ppg) and 6-3 forward Aaron Terry (12.3 ppg).

MSUB is shooting just 36.4 percent from the field and only 61.1 percent at the free throw line.

The meeting between MSUB and the Vikings will be just the third in 28 years. Prior to the current campaign, the two teams last played during the 1999-2000 season. Western holds a 6-1 series advantage, winning 116-66 at Bellingham on Jan. 31.

UPCOMING GAMES:

Feb. 28 (Thu.) at Seattle U.*# (Seattle - Connolly Center - 7 p.m.)
March 1 (Sat.) at Montana State Billings* (Billings, MT - Alterowitz Gymnasium - 7 p.m.)
March 6 (Thu.) SEATTLE PACIFIC*# (CARVER GYM - 7 p.m.)
March 8 (Sat.) NORTHWEST NAZARENE*# (CARVER GYM - 7 p.m.)

Home games (all caps) on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium
#broadcast on KBAI Radio (930 AM) and via the internet at wwuvikings.com
*Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest

THREE-DOT NOTES: The combined 126 points by Western and Central on Saturday was the lowest game total for the two rivals in 22 years ... Two years ago, Western ranked No.1 nationally in free throw percentage at 78.6 ... Graham scored a career-high 33 points against Western Oregon on Jan.12 and has a three-year career total of 877. Earlier in the campaign he had a school-record 10-game streak as Western's leading scorer as well as a 19-game string scoring double figures, both of which began last season ... Graham, Schell and Severin have started every game for the Vikings ...Western has reached the century mark in scoring twice this season. The Vikings did not score 100 points in a game last year, the first time that had happened since the 1983-84 campaign ... Five of Western's 10 setbacks this season have been to Top 25 ranked teams in the National Association of Basketball Coaches/NCAA Division II Poll. Those losses were to defending GNAC co-champion Seattle Pacific, and twice each to defending West Region champion Cal State San Bernardino and Alaska Anchorage.

Graham has been named to three all-tournament teams this season, and Schell to two ... McAllister set a school record earlier this season by making eight straight 3-pointers over a four-game stretch and tied another WWU mark by hitting all five of his 3-pointers against Multnomah Bible ... Brad Jackson has 422 career victories in 23 years as head coach. That is the most by any coach in any sport in school history. Current WWU director of athletics Lynda Goodrich posted 411 victories in 19 campaigns as the Vikings' women's basketball coach from 1971-90 ... Alford was a first-team conference all-star at Bakersfield College, and Webb was co-MVP of the NWAACC Western Region last year at Highline CC, where Zach Bruce was a second-team NWAACC regional all-star.

COACH JACKSON: Brad Jackson, who chairs the NCAA Men's Basketball Rules Committee where he has been a Division II representative for four years, is in his 23rd year and is the most successful men's coach in school history, both in total wins (422-249) and winning percentage (.629). He ranks No.19 among active NCAA II coaches in victories and 35th in winning percentage. In 2001, Jackson directed Western to a 27-4 record and the semifinals of the NCAA II National Championship, being named NABC/NCAA II West Region, Northwest small college and Pacific West Conference Coach of the Year. Five times named district/region Coach of the Year, Jackson has directed Western to 16 post-season playoff appearances, including district/region/conference championships and national tournament appearances in 1988, 1994, 2001, 2005 and 2006. He has had nine 20-win campaigns (1986-90, 1993-94, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2004-05, 2005-06).

RADIO BROADCASTS: Selected Western games are being broadcast this season on KBAI Radio (930 AM) with Doug Lange handling the play-by-play and Mark Scholten providing the color commentary. They also can be heard on the internet at www.wwuvikings.com.

ON THE WEB: For up-to-date statistics, box scores of every game, records, stories, etc., see the Western Athletic web page at www.wwuvikings.com. Up-to-date league standings and statistics can be found on the Great Northwest Athletic Conference web page at www.gnacsports.com. Viking home games are being video streamed live at www.justin.tv/vikingtv.

PROBABLE WESTERN STARTERS & TOP RESERVES:

G Harold McAllister, 6-0, *So., Vancouver, WA/Mountain View
G Ira Graham, 6-1, **Jr., Fontana, CA/Fontana
C Steve Severin, 6-10, *So., Richland, WA/Hanford
F Calin Schell, 6-7, **Jr., Chelan, WA/Chelan
F Steve Alford, 6-5, Jr., Bakersfield, CA/South/Bakersfield College

G Derrick Webb, 6-3, Jr., Port Orchard, WA/South Kitsap/Highline CC
G Andrew Ready, 6-1, Jr., Chicago, IL/Westinghouse/Bakersfield College
F Zach Bruce, 6-8, Jr., Oceanside, CA/Oceanside/Highline CC
F David Brittinen, 6-7, Jr.**, Hoquiam, WA/Hoquiam
G Jason Pegues, 6-2, Jr., Seattle, WA/Cleveland/Edmonds CC
*letters

Feb. 23 - Central Washington 68, WESTERN 58 at Bellingham

Guard Brandon Foote returned to his hometown and scored a game-high 15 points, helping Central Washington defeat Western, 68-58, in a GNAC contest before a crowd of 2,008 at Carver Gym. Alford led the Vikings with 11 points. Central, No.5 in this week's NCAA II West Region rating, improved to 17-6 and remained second in the GNAC at 11-3 with its sixth straight victory. Foote, a graduate of Bellingham High School and Whatcom CC, was 4-of-7 on 3-pointers, and hit back-to-back treys that gave Central a 55-35 lead with 11:18 to play. Western battled back, closing the margin to 10, 57-47, with 7:36 to go, and eventually pulled to within four, 62-58, on a 3-pointer by Graham with 3:47 left. But the Vikings didn't score again, and Central, which had just three field goals in the final 11 minutes, got layins from center Jake Beitinger and guard Nate Jackson to take a 66-58 lead with 58 seconds left, putting the game out of reach. The game featured the top two scoring teams in the GNAC, but became a defensive struggle, with both teams having season-low field-goal shooting percentages. Central was just 33.3 percent (21-of-63), and Western was barely better at 35.0 percent (21-of-60). Guard Johnny Spevak had 14 points for Central and forward Matt Penoncello had 11 points and nine rebounds. Schell had a game-high 13 rebounds for Western. Graham was slowed by an ankle injury and had just eight points, all in the second half. Western held a 9-5 lead seven minutes into the game, but Central ran off 14 straight points in a little over four minutes to take a 19-9 advantage with 9:15 left in the first half. The Wildcats led by as many as 13 in the opening period and held a 38-26 lead at halftime.