Five Vikings scored double figures en route to a 115-71 dismantling of the Multnomah University Lions on Saturday night, Nov. 14. The 115-point win is Western’s highest tally since the 2013-2014 season, and puts the Vikings at 3-1 overall.
“This game was definitely a confidence-booster,” junior forward Jeffrey Parker said. “We came out and had the mentality to play hard.”
Parker leads the Vikings in scoring this season with 19.8 points per game. He led the way against the Lions this past weekend with 23 points, despite hitting just one of his seven shots from beyond the arc.
Senior guard Ricardo Maxwell was the second highest scorer of the game with 18 points, followed by senior center Mac Johnson with 17 points, senior guard Kyle Impero with 16 points and senior center Blake Bowen with 15 points to round out the five in double figures. Senior forward Colby Mitchell lent his services to the board, leading both teams with 9 rebounds.
“If you key on one guy then someone else is going to go off," Impero said. “Everyone can play, everyone can step up when they need to.”
Head coach Tony Dominguez went deep into his bench for the contest, playing 12 members of his team, all of whom scored.
“We've got a well-balanced team that's trying to find their way,” Dominguez said. “I think tonight really helped them do that."
Dominguez was impressed by Bowen’s 15 points, as one of the first players off of the bench who knocked down both of his three-point attempts. In Western’s 2011-2012 season when the Vikings won the national championship, the team prized the player that could spread the floor with his ability to shoot, he said. Dominguez hopes Bowen can build off of his performance against the Lions and settle into a similar role.
Although the season has just started, Parker was thinking big picture as he examined the importance of defense moving forward despite a final score that seemed to scream offensive domination.
"We have to bring defensive energy. That's the key, that's what's going to get us a national championship," Parker said.
The next game for the Vikings will be against Brigham Young University-Hawaii at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at Whatcom Community College.
