BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Saint Martin's Men's Basketball locked up the fourth seed in the GNAC Championship despite dropping 90-66 at conference leader Western Washington University inside the Whatcom Pavilion.

Both teams started the game shooting the ball well, with the score tied at 6-6 after a made 3-pointer for the Vikings (23-5, 17-3 GNAC). Western Washington pulled away from the Saints (16-12, 10-10) with a 12-2 that gave WWU a 22-10 lead with 10:06 left in the half. WWU never trailed for the remainder of the game.

The Vikings extended their lead to 17 before Cole Preston knocked down two free throws to send the game into halftime with a score of 42-27.

Western Washington continued to make shots in the second half, opening the half on an 8-0 run and took a 50-27 edge. Despite baskets from Copp, Preston, Brandon Kenilvort and Rhett Baerlocher, the Saints only managed to cut the Vikings lead to 16 in the second half. Western Washington finished the game on a 9-3 run and cruised to the 90-66 victory.

"This was a big opportunity tonight, playing against a nationally ranked team. Western Washington is having a great year, and we didn't step up to the challenge" said head coach Alex Pribble. "In games like this, you have to be prepared to give your best, and I don't think we did that tonight".

Preston and Jorg led all Saints with 16 points each while Copp was the only other scorer to reach double-digits with 11 points. Preston finished with a game-high eight assists and two rebounds while Jorg tallied five rebounds and four blocked shots. Baerlocher and Ingram came off the bench for seven and six points respectively.

As a team, SMU shot 24-60 (.400) from the field, 4-15 (.267) beyond the arc and 14-18 (.778) at the free throw line. The Saints finished with 31 rebounds, 10 assists, six blocks and four steals.

"It's been an emotional weekend. Our guys need to rest and recover" said Pribble. "I know they will be ready to compete in the conference tournament on Thursday. It should be a great environment, and I hope to see a lot people in Marcus Pavilion!"

Up Next: The Saints return home to host the 2017 GNAC Championships on Thursday as the fourth overall seed. They will tip-off against fifth seed Concordia University at 7:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at gnacsports.com and live video and stats will be available.