Men’s basketball wrapped up its preseason last Tuesday with a 86-65 win on the road versus the Western Washington University Vikings.
“I thought (Tuesday’s) game was great, best basketball we’ve played so far this year,” head coach Greg Kamansky said. “(Western Washington is) a really big team and we came out with a lot of energy compared to our last game.”
Senior guard William Christmas led the Broncos in scoring with 24 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
“I was able to get to the line a lot tonight and that helped me,” Christmas said. “I wasn’t shooting the ball that well, but I was able to get to the line a lot, and got a lot of breaks, so that really helped me out a lot.”
The Broncos quickly got on the board with back-to-back 3-pointers that led to a 15-5 run.
The Vikings tried to tie the game with multiple 3-pointers, but the Broncos responded, first with a 3-pointer from junior guard Phoenix Shackelford, followed by a dunk from senior guard Justin Young that led to a 9-point lead.
With two minutes and 55 seconds left, junior guard Mason Dickerson knocked down another 3-pointer to give the Broncos their largest lead of the night with 20 points.
The Vikings tried to close the gap with multiple shots, but it was not enough as the Broncos took a 14-point lead.
In the second half, the Broncos continued shooting the ball effectively and during the first six minutes, they went on a 14-6 run that gave them a 22-point lead.
Christmas was crucial in the second half, as 18 of his 24 points were scored during that span.
“(Tuesday) was a great game, we really locked in defensively and that led to a lot of our success on offense,” senior guard Riley Schaefer said. “I was just trying to be efficient out there. My teammates were able to hit shots and everything was clicking out there on both sides of the ball.”
Both teams went back-and-forth shooting the ball and at times, the Vikings put up runs that diminished the Broncos’ lead.
Despite the Vikings’ attempts, the Broncos’ shooting was enough to lead them to a 21-point victory.
The Broncos return home on Thursday, to take on Cal State San Bernardino at 7:30 p.m. to kick off the California Collegiate Athletic Association conference.
