BELLINGHAM, WA – It was a hope filled start for the Cougars in their first trip to Bellingham in over two decades. However, the ending was not ideal.

Western Washington used an early scoring spurt in the second half to pull away from Colorado Christian as the Vikings notched a 91-69 win during the Chuck Randall Classic on Friday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED: The contest started with both teams shooting well in the opening half. Colorado Christian went 15-for-28 (53.6 percent) from the floor while the home squad nailed 19 of their 34 attempts (55.9 percent).

Western Washington seized a bit of control in the ladder minutes of the opening frame. After a Jake Hornick lay-up with 7:50 left until halftime gave the Cougars a 26-24 lead, Western Washington methodically built a seven-point lead. It was the largest lead either team had in the first 20 minutes. On the last possession of the stanza, Hornick hit a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Vikings took a 41-37 edge into the locker room. The buzzer beater capped off a 17-point half for the senior.

The Vikings put the game out of reach during the first nine-plus minutes of the second half. Western Washington opened the half by scoring 28 of the first 32 points in taking a 28-point edge (69-41). During that stretch, the Vikings held Colorado Christian to one made field goal while nailing 12 of their own field goal attempts.

Over the final 10-plus minutes of the second half, the Vikings kept Colorado Christian at arms length. The Cougars never got their deficit under 15 points as the final minutes ticked away.

COUGAR LEADERS: Hornick registered a personal season high 19 points to lead the squad. He also had a team best four assists and four steals in 34 minutes. Elijah Oliver pumped-in 20 points while Spencer Hoffman notched 12 while grabbing eight rebounds.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE

• Western Washington scored 60 of their points inside the paint
• The Cougars won the battle at the charity stripe as they converted 13 of their 17 attempts