Western Washington’s men’s basketball team feasted a few days before Thanksgiving with a 119-65 non-conference victory against Douglas College Tuesday, Nov. 26 at Carver Gymnasium.
“There are a lot of reasons why you schedule games like this,” Western coach Tony Dominguez said. “When you see college football and Division I basketball, everyone plays a game you think you will do well for several reasons. First, you can play your bench and it is better than practice.”
The Vikings proved to be the more dominant team within the first few minutes, taking an 8-0 lead early and keeping the Royals from scoring a basket for the first four minutes.
“No matter who the opponent is, we are playing hard,” Western guard Will Wilson said. “We are preparing ourselves for a conference coming up next week.”
Gallery: Western men’s basketball prevails over Douglas College
During that span, the Vikings’ defense had four steals and a block and finished the game with 24 steals and four blocks.
Although Douglas College hit three 3-pointers in the first half, the Vikings continued to extend their lead in the first 20 minutes. Wilson and forward Trevor White led the fast-paced offense, helping Western take a 60-32 advantage at halftime.
“We are getting out in the fastbreak and that is when we excel,” Wilson said. “We are a tough team to beat because we have so many weapons.”
Wilson finished with 24 points, five rebounds and five assists, and White finished with 18 points, five rebounds and three assists
In the second half, the Royals had another hot start. The two teams traded buckets for the first five minutes of the quarter before Western’s defense began to pressure the Royals once again. The Royals finished the game making just one of their last seven 3-point attempts.
Western pulled away in the final 10 minutes to secure its largest margin of victory this season (54) and most points scored this season.
Western (6-1) is off until it begins Great Northwest Athletic Conference play with a road trip to Northwest Nazarene (4-1) at 7 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5.
Nick Zeller-Singh is CDN's sports reporter; reach him at nickzellersingh@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 104.
