Western holds off outburst by Saint Martin’s Copp to move in GNAC finals

Top-seeded Western Washington University survived a second-half barrage from Saint Martin’s senior Tyler Copp to win a Great Northwest Athletic Conference semifinal, 91-79, Friday night at Marcus Pavilion.

Copp, a 6-foot-1 senior from Camas, had just 10 points at the half, but by the end of the game had a tournament single-game record 36 points. He hit 13-of-21 field goal attempts, including four of nine from beyond the 3-point arc. He finishes his SMU career with 1,108 points. Preston Cole added 17 and Brandon Kenilvort 10 for the Saints.

Taylor Stafford led WWU with 31 points while Jeffrey Parker added 23 to become the Vikings’ all-time leading scorer. Daulton Hommes added 20 for Western Washington. River Ridge graduate Brad Wallace played briefly in the second half for the Vikings, but did not score.

Western Washington outrebounded the Saints, 43-23, including 17-4 at the offensive end.

The Vikings (24-5) will meet Western Oregon for the conference championship Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Western Oregon (19-12) upset second-seeded Alaska-Anchorage (21-9) in triple overtime earlier in the night, 91-84. The Saints end their season 17-13.

Top-seeded UAA (28-1) will meet second-seeded WWU (26-4) for the women’s championship at 5:15 on Friday.

The Saints were down 8-0 early as they missed their first six shots and committed three turnovers in the first five minutes.

But with just under 15 minutes to go in the half, Preston hit the first of two 3-pointers to break the spell and Saint Martin’s went on a 13-3 run to grab the lead at 13-11 on a second Preston 3-pointer.

The Vikings tied the score twice, but with Preston reaching double figures by half time, the Saints stretched their lead to four points on three occasions, the final time being 24-20 after a driving layup by Preston.

Back-to-back follows by Western’s Jeffrey Parker, one on his own miss, sparked a run of seven consecutive points that allowed the Vikings to regain the lead. They stretched their edge to 31-26, on a corner three and a foul line jumper by Daulton Hommes.

Saint Martin’s briefly cut the lead to one at the three-minute mark when Tyler Copp scored on a driving layup but Western countered with an elbow jumper by Taylor Stafford and, after blocking two Saints shots on the next possession, a three-point play on a drive by Parker after an offensive rebound.

Parker, who led the Vikings with 14 first half points, hit a three just before the break to make it 39-32 at intermission.

The Saints gave up 15 second chance points before halftime as they were outrebounded 12-1 at the offensive end. Combine that with 10 turnovers by the Saints, it allowed Western to take its halftime edge despite being outshot by Saint Martin’s 54 percent to 39 from the field.

Saint Martin’s quickly got back to within one at the outset of the second half as Fred Jorg completed a 3-point play after scoring on a floater down the lane and Copp nailed a 3-point basket

But Parker staged a mini-rally of his own, scoring seven consecutive points on three free throws, a driving dunk and a cross-under layup to allow Western to equal its largest lead, 46-38, at the first media time out.

Then it was Copp’s turn as the 6-foot-1 senior from Camas scoring seven straight Saints’ points on two drives and a three-pointer and Saint Martin’s cut Western’s edge to 48-45. Two threes under pressure in a matter of seconds by Stafford let Western begin to build a cushion they would only briefly relinquish.

Two free throws by Kenilvort made in 73-70 but three driving baskets by Hommes ended any doubt.

Western Oregon 91, Alaska Anchorage 84 (3 OT): It took three overtime periods for the Wolves to advance to the GNAC title game.

Tanner Omlid scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead Western Oregon.

Three other players — Evan Garrison (20), Ali Faruq-Bey (19) and Demetrius Trammell (16) — scored in double figures for the Wolves.

Women

Alaska Anchorage 76, Seattle Pacific 68: The Seawolves will try for their third straight GNAC tournament title after topping the Falcons.

Alaska Anchorage, ranked second nationally, was led by Autumn Williams' game-high 21 points, while Kiki Robertson pitched in 13 points and six steals.

Western Washington 73, Central Washington 61: Taylor Peacocke scored a game-high 34 points as the Vikings beat their in-state rival for a trip to the GNAC championship game.

Tia Briggs added another 16 points and Kiana Gandy had 10 for Western.

This story was originally published March 3, 2017 at 11:33 PM with the headline "Western holds off outburst by Saint Martin’s Copp to move in GNAC finals."