SEATTLE, Wash. – Western Washington University junior forward Trevor Jasinsky scored a game-high 28 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Vikings couldn’t hold off a strong second half from the Seattle Pacific Falcons in a 91-75 defeat Saturday afternoon in Royal Brougham Pavilion.

WWU dropped its third consecutive game, and fourth in the last five games, to slip to 11-11 overall and 5-7 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Playing in front of a home crowd of 1,124 fans, the Falcons won for the second straight game to improve to 11-6 overall and 8-4 in conference play.

Jasinsky was 11-for-21 from the field and 4-for-8 from 3-point range while recording his GNAC-best 13th 20-point game of the season. He added a team-high 7 rebounds while playing all 40 minutes of the game.

Freshman forward Jalen Green scored 11 points and junior guard Tucker Eenigenburg also reached double-digits with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting.

Junior forward KJ Bosco was effective with 7 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in 14 minutes off the bench.

Overall the Vikings shot 40.9% from the field (27-for-66), while connecting on 13-of-26 3-pointer attempts. WWU was out-rebounded by SPU 48-33, with the Vikings losing sophomore forward Luke Lovelady due to injury with six minutes remaining in the first half proving to be a key factor. Lovelady was coming off a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double at Saint Martin’s on Thursday, but was limited to 9 minutes due to the first-half injury.

The Falcons had five players reach double-figures in scoring, led by 20 points from guard Nikhil Lizotte. Overall SPU shot 44.1% from the field (30-for-68) and were 7-for-23 from 3-point range (1-for-12 in the second half). The Falcons shot 29 free throws (24 makes), while the Vikings only went to the charity stripe 12 times (8 makes).

THE RUN THAT MATTERED

The Vikings out-scored the Falcons 9-7 in the first 5:13 of the second half, but then SPU went on a game-defining 17-5 run over a 5:35 stretch to build its lead to 15 points at 67-52. The Falcons would lead by double-digits the rest of the way while recording the 16-point victory. SPU out-scored WWU 48-37 in the second half.

THE FIRST HALF

The first half featured 10 lead changes, but a 15-3 run by Seattle Pacific midway through the half proved to be the difference as the Vikings trailed 43-38 heading into halftime. SPU led 36-25 with 4:21 left in the half, but the Vikings hot shooting chipped away at the 11-point deficit pulling to within one possession going on a 13-5 run to cut the score to 41-38. SPU scored a last-second layup to pull ahead by the 5-point margin. WWU shot 41.2% from the field (14-for-34), with all but 8 points coming on 10-for-15 shooting (66.7%) from 3-point range. Trevor Jasinsky led the Vikings with 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting, with Jalen Green adding 9 points in 16 minutes of action. SPU shot 48.6% from the field and were 6-for-11 from beyond the arc (54.5%). Harry Cavell led the Falcons with 9 points, while Coleman Wooten and Nikhil Lizotte had 8 each.

UP NEXT

The Vikings return home to Carver Gym, taking a short break from the stretch of six road games over an eight-game stretch, to host in-state rival Central Washington on Thursday and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday. Both games tip-off at 7 pm on WECU Court on the WWU campus. Free shuttle service from the C and 12A lots on campus will begin running at 6 pm with front-door service to Carver Gym. Advanced tickets can be purchased via WWUVikings.com/Tickets with the Carver Gym Box Office opening one hour prior to tip-off.

ALL-TIME SERIES

WWU was swept by the Falcons this season, falling 86-72 on Jan. 3 in Bellingham…SPU now leads the all-time series 86-55 and now has a 6-5 advantage in the last 11 games of the series…WWU is 6-5 in its last 11 trips to Royal Brougham Pavilion.