BELLINGHAM, Wash. – Spencer Krannitz scored a career-high 31 points, but Fresno Pacific fell to Western Washington 75-66 on Saturday at the 2016 Chuck Randall Classic. FPU held a 34-33 advantage at halftime before the Vikings capitalized on 15 free throws in the second half to earn the win.
 
The loss moves FPU to 0-4 on the season, while WWU improves to 4-0.
 
"I'm tremendously proud of our team tonight," said head coach C.J. Haydock. "We battled advisory well in a hostile environment against a top-tier, tremendously talented team in our region. Spencer gave us a huge lift, and we rode his hot hand the whole way."
 
Krannitz finished the evening 11-of-18 from the floor en route to his career-best 31 points. The senior drained four threes and added two blocks, three rebounds and a steal to his line. Adriel McGee scored 10 points and pulled down nine rebounds, Kavika Jimenez added nine points, Mike Crawley totaled seven points, Rafail Eleftheriou scored four points to go along with five rebounds and T.J. Viney and Jordan Belasco dished out four assists apiece.
 
The Sunbirds jumped on the Vikings early and led 19-17 after the under 12 media timeout. FPU followed with an 11-2 run, highlighted by threes from Krannitz and Jimenez (two), to earn its largest lead of the night at 30-19 with 7:36 to play in the first half.
 
The Vikings responded with 42 points in the second half, however, to earn the win. WWU used a 17-6 run to take control of the game in the middle of the half. Krannitz cut the deficit to five with just over a minute to play, but the Sunbirds wouldn't come any closer.
 
FPU shot 46 percent from the floor, while WWU countered at a clip of 41 percent. The Sunbirds won the rebounding battle 35-31, but allowed 13 offensive rebounds that turned into 19 second-chance points for the Vikings. WWU also benefitted from 23 free-throw attempts compared to FPU's 12.
 
Jeffrey Parker led the Vikings with 21 points, while Daulton Hommes added 18 points.
 
"We have to reload, refresh, and be ready for a solid Alaska Fairbanks tomorrow and bring the same level of competitiveness, toughness and execution," noted Haydock.
 
Tip-off against Alaska is slated for 3 p.m.