Jeffrey Parker dunks the ball in their 87-64 victory over Concordia Saturday. Feb 11. // Photo by Rachel Postlewait
Western men’s basketball dominated the court against Concordia University with a 87-64 victory Saturday, Feb. 11, at Whatcom Pavilion. The win keeps the Vikings in the battle for first place against Alaska Anchorage University in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.Head coach Tony Dominguez said breaking the two-game losing streak with the win over Western Oregon University Thursday, Feb. 9 helped the team refocus.
“We came out with a lot of energy and intensity and that really helped us get this win tonight.”
The Vikings set the pace early during the latest game versus Concordia and ended the first half with a commanding 51-30 lead.Senior guard Taylor Stafford led the team with 21 points. Stafford added six rebounds, four assists and four steals in the big win.Senior forward Jeffrey Parker ended the game with 19 points, hitting three of eight from the 3-point range.“We came out with a lot of energy and intensity and that really helped us get this win tonight,” Parker said.
“We came out with a lot of energy and intensity and that really helped us get this win tonight.”
Jeffrey Parker
Stafford and Parker were not the only Vikings to put up double digits against Concordia. Junior forward Deandre Dickson had 10 points and seven rebounds. Freshman forward Daulton Hommes added 12 points and three assists. Defensively, the Vikings had a total of 41 rebounds and offensively shot 51.6 percent from the field. Sophomore center Logan Schilder grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds and four blocked shots. The 7-foot center said he should be up there every game getting rebounds and blocking shots.
Taylor Stafford dribbles the ball against Concordia Saturday. Feb 11. // Photo by Rachel Postlewait
Schilder said the win reflected the team’s trust in each other. “We were getting stops and rebounds and then we were moving the ball well, getting each other open shots,” Schilder said. The Vikings have four more regular season games before the GNAC championships. The win over Concordia secured the Vikings a spot in the GNAC Conference Championships in March. The victory improved their conference record to 13-3 and 19-5 overall. “We have a lot to work on. We need to work on our defense, we need to work on moving the ball and executing,” Dominguez said. “There [are] a lot of things that I think we can address.” The Vikings will be headed out for their last road games in the regular season beginning at 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16, against rival Central Washington University, a game televised on Root Sports. The Vikings will then face Northwest Nazarene at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18.
