Men's Basketball | 12/29/2008 5:31:32 PM
Box Score This week...
The Western Oregon University men's basketball team will be at St. George, Utah to take on Fort Lewis and Mesa State as part of the Dixie State Tournament before traveling to Malibu, Calif., to face Pepperdine, Jan. 3.
Fort Lewis preview...
The Fort Lewis Skyhawks are 9-3 this season and come into the game against WOU on a three-game winning streak. FLC has began Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play with a 2-1 record as it captured victories over Chadron State (94-82) and Metro State (72-70) but lost to Regis (68-67).
Kirk Archieque is the Skyhawks' leading scorer and rebounder with 17.8 points and eight rebounds per game. DeAndre Lansdowne is putting up 15.9 p.p.g., and hauling in 4.8 rebounds. He has led the Skyhawks in scoring for the past four games. Fort Lewis also has Ryan Jameson (10.9) and Jordan Brooks (10.5) putting up double-figures in scoring.
As team, Fort Lewis is scoring 80.3 p.p.g., and is outrebounding its opponents by 4.3 per contest. FLC is also shooting .487 percent from the floor this season and .383 from behind the arc.
This will be the first meeting between the schools.
Mesa State preview...
The Mesa State Mavericks are 5-4 this season with a 2-2 record in the RMAC.
Ryan Mathews leads the team in scoring at 15.7 p.p.g., while shooting .372 percent from three-point range. Jase Herl is the Mav's leading rebounber at 7.8 per game and second-leading scorer with 12.1 p.p.g. As a team, MSC holds a 2.6 rebounding advantage over its opponents and is collecting 8.8 steals per contest.
This is the fifth meeting between the schools with the all-time series tied at 2-2. The teams last met in 2000, with Mesa State winning the game 87-75.
Pepperdine preview...
The NCAA Division I Pepperdine Waves are 1-12 this season with a 1-6 record at home. Pepperdine has lost 12 straight games since its season opening victory over Cal State Monterey Bay.
The Waves feature two double-digit scorers with Keion Bell (11.5) and Mychel Thompson (10.1). Taylor Darby is the Waves' leading rebounder with 6.8 per game. As a team, Pepperdine is being outscored by 15.1 p.p.g., and it commits 4.2 more turnovers per contest than its opponents.
This is the first meeting between the Wolves and the Waves.
Last time out...
Western Oregon's game against BYU in Provo, Utah, which was originally scheduled for Dec. 23, was postponed until Jan. 6, due to harsh weather conditions which complicated travel.
At the DeBani Holiday Classic...
The Western Oregon men's basketball team earned a pair of victories at the DeBani Holiday Classic in Arcata, Calif., to win its third straight game and improve to 5-2 on the season.
Against Sonoma State on Friday, Dec. 19, the Wolves outscored the Seawolves 48-31 in the second half to earn a 79-62 victory. Sam Kelly led five WOU student-athletes in double-figure scoring with 17 points as he went 6-of-9 from the field. Travis Kuhns had a team-best six rebounds to go along 15 points and 6-of-10 shooting. The game was tied 31-31 at halftime, but after Sonoma State scored the first three points of the second half, Western Oregon went on a 14-3 run to take control of game. In the second half, the Wolves shot 69.6 percent from the field as it made 16 of its 23 shots from the floor including 6-of-9 three-point attempts.
On Saturday, Dec. 20, the Wolves captured their first victory against Humboldt State in Arcata since 1996 as they defeated the Jacks 85-76. Kuhns scored 27 and Kelly added 26 as WOU handed HSU its first loss in the six-year history of the tournament (12 games). Kuhns went 8-of-12 from the field and 9-of-10 from the free throw line en route to scoring 27 points. Kelly 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 in the game. McLaughlin had a team-high 10 rebounds as Western Oregon dominated Humboldt State 41 to 25 on the boards. 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 half. As a team, the Wolves 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.
Kuhns and Kelly named to all-tournament team...
Travis Kuhns and Sam Kelly were both named to the 2008 DeBani Holiday Classic all-tournament team with Kuhns earning MVP honors.
Over the two game stretch Kuhns, a senior from Salem, Ore. (Sprague), had 42 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four steals. He also shot 14-of-22 from the field and 11-of-13 from the line. Kelly, a senior from Salem, Ore. (South Salem), recorded 43 points and nine rebound and seven assists in the tournament while shooting 62 percent from the field (13-of-21), 62.5 percent from three-point range (5-of-8) and 93 percent from the line (13-of-14).
