Drechsel leads WWU men to victory with 27 points

Western Washington redshirt freshman Trey Drechsel scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Vikings to a 119-95 victory over Concordia on Thursday, Jan. 14, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference men’s basketball game at Whatcom Pavilion.

The 119 points was the most in WWU history in a GNAC game (since 2002) and tied for 8th-most in any GNAC game. The previous high by Western was 118 on Dec. 6, 2014, at Simon Fraser (122-118 loss).

In addition to Drechsel’s career night, senior point guard Ricardo Maxwell scored 25 points on 11-for-15 shooting.

The Vikings improve to 10-6 overall and 4-3 in GNAC play with the victory. In their first season at the Division II level, Concordia drops to 4-10 overall and 2-5 in conference play.

Drechsel scored his 27 points in 28 minutes off the bench in just his fourth collegiate game, and narrowly missed the double-double with a game-high nine rebounds.

“We have been waiting for Trey to have his breakout game, because this is what he can bring to the court,” WWU coach Tony Dominguez in a news release. “He was the key to the game with his passing, rebounding and making shots. He is a dynamic player.”

Senior guard Kyle Impero contributed 19 points (five rebounds, six assists), junior forward Jeffrey Parker added 17 points and senior forward Colby Mitchell rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.

The Vikings shot 57.5 percent from the field for the game (46 for 80), including 10 for 25 from 3-point range and 17 for 20 from the free throw line. The team also recorded a 24-to-9 assist-to-turnover ratio.

This story was originally published January 14, 2016 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Drechsel leads WWU men to victory with 27 points."