ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The Western Washington University men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to 10 consecutive games with a 70-61 victory over Alaska Anchorage Saturday night in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action at the Alaska Airlines Center.

The victory improved Western to 10-0 in GNAC play, and 15-3 overall, completing the first half of the conference schedule with a perfect record. The 10-game winning streak marks the 11th double-digit winning streak in program history, tying for 8th-longest in the 116 seasons of WWU basketball. WWU has also tied the GNAC record with 8 consecutive conference road victories, a streak that includes a 6-0 mark this year and two wins from last season.

Four players scored in double digits for the Vikings, led by 15 points each by junior guard Trey Drechsel (Woodinville, WA/Cedar Park Christian) and junior 7-foot center Logan Schilder (Bellingham, WA/Whatcom CC).

Drechsel, the reigning GNAC Player of the Week, also led all players with 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. Schilder just missed the double-double with 9 rebounds.

Sophomore forward Daulton Hommes (Lynden, WA/Lynden Christian) reached double-figures for the 17th time in 18 games this season, scoring 9 of his 13 points in the second half. He also tied his career high with 5 blocked shots. Redshirt junior guard Siaan Rojas (Concord, CA/Santa Rosa JC) came off the bench to score 10 points, with 8 coming in the second half.

WWU held a 42-30 edge in rebounding, including a 30-19 margin in defensive rebounds, and out-blocked the Seawolves 9-3. Western shot 45.1% from the floor (23-for-51) and was 22-for-29 (75.9%) from the free throw line.

“We were very excited to get a tough, grind-it-out win against a very tough team. Rusty (Osborne) has a great program and winning both in Alaska is a very difficult accomplishment, so we are very proud of these guys,” said head coach Tony Dominguez. “This league is extremely tough this year and we need to be prepared mentally going into round two.”

Alaska Anchorage (8-10, 4-6 GNAC) was led by a game-high 16 points from guard DJ Ursery and 11 points off the bench from Josiah Wood. UAA shot 31.7% from the field (20-for-63) and was 15-for-20 (75.0%) from the free throw line.

The Vikings were limited to a first-half season low 28 points, but took an eight-point lead into halftime at 28-20. UAA led for much of the early part of the half, building a five-point lead at 16-11 at the 10:00 mark. Western took the lead on a 3-pointer by Brett Kingma (Mill Creek, WA/Jackson) with 8:12 remaining in the half, and finished on a 14-2 run to take the eight-point lead. The WWU defense limited to UAA to 0-for-15 shooting over the final nine minutes of the half and finished on a 14-2 run. Drechsel led all players with 7 points, followed by 5 points each by Schilder and Kingma.

WWU quickly built its lead to double-digits early in the second half, but UAA went on a 11-2 run to pull to within three points at 40-37 with 11:50 remaining in the contest. WWU answered with a 6-0 spurt to retake a nine-point lead at 46-37, and led by as many as 14 points at 60-46 with just under four minutes left in the game. UAA made a last-ditch comeback attempt going on an 8-2 run to trim the lead to six points at 64-58 with 44 seconds remaining, but the Vikings went 4-for-5 at the free throw line down the stretch to seal the victory.

The Vikings (15-3, 10-0) return home to Carver Gym for a pair of conference games next week, hosting Saint Martin’s on Thursday (7 pm) and Seattle Pacific on Saturday (3 pm). Saturday’s game vs. SPU will be televised regionally on ROOT SPORTS with Brad Adam and Francis Williams calling the action from WECU Court.

Game Notes: WWU recorded its fifth sweep on the annual Alaskan road trip, and first since Jan. 12-14, 2012…since the GNAC was formed in 2001-02, there have been only 18 instances of teams gaining a road sweep over Alaska Fairbanks and Alaska Anchorage (also SPU this season)…WWU has now won its last 18 games vs. GNAC opponents dating back to last season (includes postseason)…the 8-game GNAC road winning streak (does not include postseason) ties the conference mark held by WWU (2011-12) and Seattle Pacific (2013-14)…Deandre Dickson tied his career high with 4 assists…Daulton Hommes has scored in double-digits in 17 of 18 games this season and leads the team averaging 18.2 points per game (tied for 3rd in GNAC)…WWU continues to lead the GNAC in free throw percentage (76.7%/320-for-417) after going 22-for-29 from the free throw line Saturday night (75.9%)…WWU led for 28:55 of the game, trailed for 8:13 and the game was tied for 2:52…WWU had a sizeable advantage in points scored in the paint (34-16)…during WWU’s current 10-game winning streak, 8 of the wins have come away from Bellingham (6-0 in road games, 2-0 neutral).

About WWU Basketball:

One of the premier basketball programs in NCAA Division II, recording a 20-win season in seven of the last nine seasons. WWU is a six-time Great Northwest Athletic Conference champion and has appeared in the NCAA II Elite 8 three times. The Vikings won the 2011-12 NCAA Division II National Championship and advanced the following season to the NCAA II Final Four. Western is coming off a 2016-17 season where the program went 25-6, winning the GNAC regular season and conference championships title, and advanced to the NCAA Division II Championships as the No. 3 seed in the West Region. The program enters its 116th season, having combined for 1,473 victories and a .591 winning percentage.

— @WWUHoops —