March 3, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

UPDATE: The Western Washington University men's basketball team closes out its season at home this week, entertaining Seattle Pacific University on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Northwest Nazarene University on Saturday (7 p.m.) in a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games on Haggen Court at Sam Carver Gymnasium.

The Vikings, 14-11 overall and in a three-way tie for sixth in the league standings at 7-9, split a pair of league road games last week, breaking out of a two-game offensive slump to defeat Montana State Billings, 93-67, on March 1 after losing 73-58 to Seattle U. on Feb. 28.

Western, ranked second in the conference in scoring offense, had scored a season-low 56 points and 58 in its previous two contests before putting up 93 points against MSUB.

The Vikings, 9-3 at home, are led in scoring by junior guard Ira Graham, who tops the GNAC with a 19.0 points per game average. Shooting 53.2 percent (173-of-325) from the field, he has been the Vikings' top scorer in 18 of its 25 games and scored double figures 21 times, both team bests.

Graham, who also leads Western in assists with a 3.0 average, scored 31 points in the win over MSUB. It was his third 30-point performance of the season and the first on the road. He scored a career-high 33 points against Western Oregon on Jan. 12 and had 32 points on Nov. 23 versus Northwest.

Junior forward Calin Schell is averaging 9.6 points on 55.6 percent field-goal shooting (99-of-178) and his team-high 7.6 rebound average ranks third in the conference. He is second among GNAC leaders in offensive rebounds (69, 2.8 avg.).

Sophomore center Steve Severin is contributing 7.0 points and is the league's fourth-leading rebounder with a 7.6 average. He tops the GNAC in blocked shots with 60 (2.4 avg.).

Junior forward Steve Alford is averaging 10.8 points and 4.3 rebounds for the Vikings, scoring double-figures in 15 games.

Junior guard Derrick Webb is scoring at an 8.8 per game clip, and sophomore guard Harold McAllister is averaging 5.8 points while shooting a team-leading 40.3 percent (29-of-72) from 3-point range.

The home games will be the last for one Viking senior, reserve guard Greg Meier.

Western has been averaging 80 points despite having the worst free-throw shooting campaign in school history, being next-to-last in the GNAC at 61.8 percent (363-of-587).

The Vikings lead the GNAC in 3-point defense at 30.4 percent (126-of-415) and blocked shots (5.3 avg.).

Defending conference co-champion Seattle Pacific, 19-6 overall and third in the GNAC standings at 11-5, is working on a three-game winning streak. The Falcons, coming off a 65-58 upset win over nationally No.9-ranked Alaska Anchorage, are led by a quartet of returnees - 6-10 senior center Rob Will (14.7 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 48 blocks. .638 FG Pct.), 6-2 senior guard Marques Echols (15.2 ppg, 4.1 apg, .405 3-pt. pct., 60-of-148), 6-5 senior forward JoJay Jackson (11.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and 6-8 sophomore forward Rob Diederichs (10.6 ppg).

Western has lost the last five series meetings with coach Jeff Hironaka's (6th year, 113-55) squad. The Vikings fell 77-70 to the Falcons at Seattle on Jan. 5.

Northwest Nazarene, which got off to a school-best 8-0 start, is 17-8 overall (at Central Washington on March 6) and fifth in the league at 9-7. The Crusaders lead the GNAC in free-throw shooting at 79.5 percent (423-of-532) and are second in 3-point accuracy at 39.8 percent (204-of-513).

Pacing coach Tim Hills' (3rd year, 39-40; overall 502-434, 29 years) team are a trio of returnees - 6-7 sophomore center Kendall Gielow (14.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg), 6-4 sophomore guard Justin Parnell (12.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg), the GNAC Freshman of the Year in 2006-07; and 6-6 junior center Scott Helpenstell (10.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg).

Two standout newcomers are 6-5 sophomore guard Tyler Roberts (9.9 ppg, 4.9 apg) from Corban (Ore.) College and 6-0 junior guard Joel Ryman (11.4 ppg, 50.0 3-pt. pct., 62-of-124) from Spokane CC.

Western defeated Northwest Nazarene, 82-63, on Jan. 3 at Nampa, Id. The two teams have split their home-and-home series in each of the last four seasons.

UPCOMING GAMES:

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: Schell has shot 69.9 percent (23-of-33) from the field over the last five games, averaging 11.6 points during that stretch ... Two years ago, Western ranked No.1 nationally in free throw percentage at 78.6 ... Graham has a three-year career total of 925 points. 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 ... 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 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 423 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 (423-249) 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 Andrew Ready, 6-1, Jr., Chicago, IL/Westinghouse/Bakersfield College

G Derrick Webb, 6-3, Jr., Port Orchard, WA/South Kitsap/Highline CC
F Steve Alford, 6-5, Jr., Bakersfield, CA/South/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

GAME SUMMARIES:

Feb. 28 - Seattle U. 73, WESTERN 56 at Seattle, WA

Guard Chris Gweth had a game-high 18 points to lead five players in double-figure scoring as Seattle U. defeated Western, 73-56, in a GNAC game at Connolly Center. The Vikings were led by the 17 points of Graham, who had 12 in the second half. Seattle, which has won eight of its last 10 games, improved to 17-8 overall and 10-6 in GNAC action. The defending league co-champion Redhawks, who are moving up to the NCAA Division I ranks next season, also got 15 points from Ryan Coldren. Michael Wright scored 12 points and Mike Boxley and Ricky Berry each had 10. Trailing by 20 points at halftime, Western cut the deficit to nine, 49-40, with a 21-10 run over the first eight minutes of the second half. Graham and Webb each had eight points during that stretch. But Boxley scored the next four points for Seattle, starting a 14-4 run that put the Redhawks ahead by 19, 63-44, with 6:19 left. Western never got closer than 13 after that. Seattle began the game by making eight of its first 11 shots, including 3-of-5 3-pointers, going out to a 19-7 lead over the first seven minutes. Later in the period, the Redhawks began a 14-2 run with 10 straight points for their biggest lead of 22, 39-17, with 2:01 left and led 39-19 at halftime. Seattle shot 61.5 percent (16-of-26) from the field in the first half, while Western made just 7-of-19 (36.8 percent). The Vikings, whose 56 points were a season low, finished at 48.8 percent (21-of-43) and the Redhawks at 54.0 percent (27-of-50). Schell finished with 12 points for Western and Webb had 10.

March 1 - WESTERN 93, Montana State Billings 67 at Billings, MT

Graham scored a game-high 31 points, 19 in the second half, as Western defeated Montana State Billings, 93-67, in a GNAC contest at Alterowitz Gymnasium. McAllister and Schell each had 12 points, with McAllister also dishing out a game-high seven assists. MSUB lost for the 11th straight time, falling to 1-27 overall and 1-16 in GNAC action. The Yellowjackets were led by the 19 points of Aaron Terry and the game-high 13 rebounds of Cameron Khoury. The Vikings jumped out to a 13-3 lead in the first four minutes and were ahead by 12, 28-16, with 7:17 left in the first half. An 11-3 run brought MSUB within four, 31-27, with 2:50 to go, but Western scored 11 of the next 13 points to lead 42-29 at halftime. Graham hit a 3-pointer to cap an 11-4 run to open the second half, putting the Vikings up by 20, 53-33, with 15:43 left. They scored 14 straight points to lead by 26, 69-42, following a dunk by Severin with 9:15 remaining and MSUB never got closer than 16 after that. Graham, who was 12-of-23 from the field, also had five rebounds and five assists. Western shot 49.3 percent (35-of-71) from the floor and had a 52-44 rebound advantage, Severin and Schell each having nine. MSUB made just 32.4 percent (22-of-68) of its field goal tries and was 17-of-31 (54.8 percent) at the free-throw line. John Brooks scored 16 points for the Yellowjackets and Kirk Blaine had 10. It was just the third time that the two teams have met in 28 years.