HAYWARD, Calif. -- Jimmy Golden dropped in a career-high 21 points in 27 minutes of action, and despite holding an eight-point halftime lead, the Sonoma State men's basketball team suffered a 72-64 loss to Western Washington at the Pioneer Shootout in Hayward.  It was the season-opener for both teams.

The Seawolves and Vikings went back and forth for the first 12 minutes of the opening half, but Sonoma State went on an 18-0 run during a span of 7:47 at the end of the period to lead 33-23 before Western Washington put in a layup at the halftime buzzer to make it an eight-point ballgame.

The lead didn't last long for SSU, as WWU spearheaded a 24-8 run over the next nine minutes to retake a six-point lead at 49-43 with 10:21 to go in regulation, a lead the Vikings would not relinquish the rest of the way.  Most of the damage came out of the hands of WWU's Daulton Hommes, who drained 25 of his game-high 29 points in the second half alone as the Vikings outscored the Seawolves 47-31 in the final 20 minutes of the contest.

In the end, Sonoma State shot better from the floor, hitting on 48.8 percent of its shots (21-43) while holding Western Washington to 47.2 percent (25-53).  However WWU buried 11 three-pointers as opposed to three for SSU.

Golden was 7 of 10 from the floor and 7 of 9 from the free throw line to account for his team-high 21 points.  Mason Phillips scored 13 points, nine of which came from outside the three-point arc.  Armani Nicolis and Nathan Molony-Benjamin each chipped in with eight points.

Sonoma State will take on Notre Dame de Namur Saturday at 5:30 pm in Hayward before returning home next weekend to host the annual Ron Logsdon Basketball Classic (Nov. 18-19).