Men's Basketball | 12/20/2008 5:40:26 PM
Box Score ARCATA, Calif. - Travis Kuhns scored 27 points and Sam Kelly added 26 as the Western Oregon University men's basketball defeated Humboldt State 85-76 Saturday, Dec. 20, at the DeBani Holiday Classic.
The win was the third straight for the Wolves as they improved to 5-2 on the season and Humboldt State fell to 8-4. This was the first loss for Humboldt State in the six-year history of its home tournament (11-1). This is Western Oregon's first win against Humboldt State at Arcata, Calif., since 1996 when the Wolves defeated the Jacks 83-78 in overtime.
Kuhns, was named the MVP of the tournament, as he went 8-of-12 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line en route to scoring 27 points. Kuhns also had nine rebounds and a team-best six assists in the victory. Kelly earned an all-tournament selection as he scored 14 of the team's first 24 points in the game as he had four three-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the game. He was also effective from the charity stripe as he made 9-of-10 free throw attempts. Mike McLaughlin had a team-high 10 rebounds as Western Oregon dominated Humboldt State 41 to 25 on the boards.
"We stuck to the game plan and got high percentage shots," said head coach Craig Stanger. "It was great team effort tonight. We handled their pressure and were able to contain their three-point shooting for most of the game."
As a team, the Wolves also had a decisive advantage at the free throw line as they converted on 75 percent (18-of-24) attempts compared to just 59.1 percent (13-of-22) for the Jacks.
The game was tied 40 all at halftime, but the Wolves again put up a strong second half of shooting as it made 15-of-24 (62.5 percent) of its shots while the Jacks struggled and converted only 12-of-29 of its attempts in the second half.
The Western Oregon men's basketball team will be on the road at BYU, Tuesday, Dec. 23, at 7:00 p.m. (MT).
