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March 7, 2009

Box Score

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - Guard Ira Graham (Sr., Fontana, CA) scored a game-high 24 points and guard Morris Anderson (Jr., Federal Way) had a near triple-double as Western Washington University won its first outright Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship in the eight-year history of the league, using a second-half burst to defeat arch-rival Central Washington University, 85-68, Saturday before a capacity crowd of 2,534 on Haggen Court in Sam Carver Gymnasium.

Anderson had 15 points and game highs of 13 rebounds and eight assists for Western, which improved to 21-5 overall and claimed the GNAC title at 13-3. The Vikings, ranked No.5 in the West Region of NCAA Division II, earn an automatic berth in the NCAA II National Tournament and appear likely to host a four-team West sub-regional Friday and Saturday. The official selection announcement is scheduled for 6 p.m. Pacific time Sunday.

Central, ranked No. 4 in the West, fell to 18-6 overall and finished second in the GNAC at 12-4. Forward Matt Penoncello led the Wildcats, who are likely to receive an at-large tourney berth, with 20 points.

Central held a 37-32 lead much of the first half and had a 37-32 advantage at halftime. Western opened the second half with eight straight points to take a 40-37 lead. A Penoncello 3-pointer tied the game at 42-42 with 16:59 to play, but from there, the Vikings, who shot 59.4 percent (19-of-32) from the field after halftime, took control with a 14-2 charge.

Graham had the key moment in the run, hitting a fast-break layin while being fouled intentionally. Graham made one free throw and then the Vikings got the ball back and he hit a 3-pointer for a 6-point play. Forward Steve Alford (Sr., Bakersfield, CA/South) capped the charge a minute later with a fast-break dunk, putting the Vikings up 58-46 with 12:28 to play.

Central got no closer than seven after that, and the lead was never under 12 in the final eight minutes.

Forward David Brittinen (Sr., Hoquiam) had 17 points for Western, and center Calin Schell (Sr., Chelan) had 10 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Vikings to a 43-29 advantage on the boards.

Forward Brandon Foote had 16 points for Central.

The Wildcats had used a run of 11 straight points to take a 23-14 lead midway through the first half, and later used a 10-0 run to go up by seven, 37-30, with 1:49 left in the half. Central hit 11 of its first 17 shots through the first 12 minutes, but were just 15-of-43 the rest of the way, ending up at 43.3 percent (26-of-60).

It was the final regular-season home game for four Western seniors - Graham, Schell, Brittinen and Alford. They celebrated that with the school's first outright GNAC title. Western shared the championship in 2002 and 2005.

Vikings clinch GNAC title

JOE SUNNEN - THE BELLINGHAM HERALD

BELLINGAM - With nearly a minute left to play, Ira Graham couldn't fight back the tears of joy.

After so many long years, the Western Washington University men's basketball team was about to claim its first Great Northwest Athletic Conference crown outright and the final seconds couldn't go by fast enough for the Vikings senior.

"I knew we had it," Graham said. "There was a minute left and I knew we had done it. I had to fight to control myself. I can't even speak right now I'm so happy."

Western rallied back from a halftime deficit to roll past Central Washington University 85-68 on Saturday, March 7, before a capacity crowd in the GNAC regular season finale at Carver Gym. With the win the Vikings (21-5, 13-3) claim the conference title and an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II West Region Tournament next week.

Now the Viking will have to wait until Sunday afternoon to find out if they'll be hosting a portion of the region tournament. Western came into the game ranked fifth in the latest regional poll but is likely to finish the season in second place, leapfrogging the three schools ahead of them in the ranking after winning the conference title. Brigham Young Hawaii is the current No. 1 team in the region.

If the Vikings jump to No. 2 in the region, they will host half of the eight-team regional tournament thanks to a new rule implemented by the NCAA this season that splits the tournament up into two sub-regionals if just the host school is the only one from a given state in the tournament field.

In this case, BYU Hawaii and the region's second-ranked team would share tournament hosting duties beginning on Friday, March 13. The highest remaining seed will then host the West Regional championship game with the winner advancing to the Division II Elite Eight. The Wildcats (18-6, 12-4) will likely head to the postseason as an at-large bid after coming into Saturday's game ranked fourth in the regional poll.

"Once we got going in the second half and got a little spurt, things really started going for us," Western coach Brad Jackson said. "We felt like we were a little methodical in the first half, maybe a little too fine, and I think they just said let's go play some ball here. And we did."

Western started the second half trailing 37-32 after an up-and-down first 20 minutes, but opened with an 8-0 run to take a 40-37 lead in the first two minutes. It was a lead the Vikings would never give up again.

"At halftime we were down, but we never ever hang our heads," Graham said. "We knew we were the champs coming into this game and we started playing like champs."

With 13 minutes left in the game, Western had built its lead to 56-44, and after handling one last push from Central pushed its edge to 70-53 with less than eight minutes remaining. Central closed to 78-66 in the closing minutes, but would never get closer.

Graham finished with 24 points to lead all scorers. David Brittinen added 17 and Morris Anderson had 15. Matt Penoncello paced Central with 20 points.

"We felt like when we came into this season we had a chance to be good," Jackson said. "This group has just worked so hard and been really consistent. One of our goals coming into the season - and I think it's every team's goal - was to go undefeated. When we got beat I said hey we weren't able to achieve that goal, but there are a lot of other teams in the nation that would like to be where we are. We wanted to win this championship and that was so gratifying, but mostly I just appreciated how hard they've worked."

For a while in the first half it looked like things weren't going to go Western's way. The Vikings had tired legs and minds after an emotional comeback win against Seattle Pacific University on Thursday, March 5, and it showed.

The Wildcats used an 11-0 run during a two minute span midway through the first half to turn a 14-12 deficit into a 23-14 advantage with nine minutes remaining in the half. Former Bellingham standout Brandon Foote got things started for Central, dropping in a short jumper to even the score at 14 all. Giovonne Woods broke the tie with a driving layup and Penoncello added a 3-pointer as Central started to grab the momentum.

Western chipped away at Central's lead over the next few minutes, drawing as close as 25-24 with their own 8-0 run, but Penoncello again slowed the Vikings' rally with a basket at the 4:46 mark. It didn't take long however for Western to get things rolling again. Freshman Cameron Severson gave the Vikings their first lead in more than 10 minutes with a steal and layup to put the score at 28-27. Michael Duty dropped in two more before Central put together its own 10-0 to close the half. Western's Calin Schell made a pair of free throws to send the Vikings into halftime trailing 37-32.

After the game Graham ran to the middle of the court and dropped to the floor while the Vikings' student body swarmed him and his teammates. As the crowd started to thin Westren's players cut down the nets and celebrated with team pictures. Graham was hugging everyone in sight and Western's four seniors couldn't get the smiles off their faces.

"When you get into the NCAA tournament it's really a cap on your season," Jackson said. "The players have to feel good about that no matter what happens. But at the same time, I think we feel like we're a good team and we're ready to compete and we'll see where that takes us."