Six Western Washington men’s basketball players scored in double figures and the Vikings romped to a 124-70 non-conference win over Langara College on Saturday, Dec. 10 at Carver Gymnasium.
It was a season-high point total for the Vikings, who were led by Will Wilson’s game-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Nic Welp added 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Kai Johnson chipped in 16 points and seven assists.
The injury-riddled Vikings (8-3, 1-0 Great Northwest Athletic Conference), competing with just 10 active players, wasted no time as Wilson ripped off eight points in the first four minutes.
After forcing a couple of turnovers, the Vikings led 18-7 at the first media timeout. They continued their powerful start by taking a 29-9 lead following a strong finish at the hoop from Louis Grante-Halliday.
While Western’s offense was cooking, its defense was putting the clamps on Langara.
“We tried some defensive schemes and it looked good,” Western head coach Tony Dominguez said. “With the injuries his team has had, it makes it hard to get them motivated, but today they played well.
Western continued its onslaught throughout the first half, rolling to a commanding 63-28 lead at the break.
The second half was more of the same as the Vikings’ electric offense got out and ran.
Before the season started, Dominguez voiced his goal of getting the team to move the ball. On Saturday, the Vikings finished with a season-high 31 assists.
“We’re trying to get them to know it’s fun to play together,” Dominguez said.
Liam Clark threw down three straight slam dunks, scoring all 11 of his points during a four-minute stretch in the second half.
All 10 active players scored at least three points and logged at least 10 minutes. Wilson, Welp, Johnson, Clark, Darius Gary (17) and Grante-Halliday (15) all scored in double figures. Grante-Halliday also dished out seven assists.
With a tough GNAC schedule starting in the new year, Dominguez wants his team to continue to grow into a dominant offense.
“We got to execute a little bit better,” he said. “We got to keep moving the ball and making the extra pass.”
The Vikings play one more game this year on Sunday, Dec.17 at home against George Fox University, then will have two and a half weeks off before continuing conference play versus Western Oregon at home on Jan. 4, 2024.
