Men's Basketball | 11/14/2009 9:30:57 PM

[Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Blair Wheadon led four Wolves in double-figures with 24 points and Western Oregon withstood a late run by George Fox to win its final exhibition game of the season, 81-68, Saturday (Nov. 14).

Wheadon went 8-of-14 from the field and 5-for-5 at the free throw line for his 24 points while also adding four steals and three assists. WOU also received a huge lift from freshman Tarance Glynn off the bench, as he came in and scored 11 points, grabbed six boards, dished out two assists and had two steals. Seniors Rico Myles and Matt Schmidt added 10 apiece. The starting backcourt, which consists of three sophomores, Wheadon, Kyle Long and Marcus Harris, combined to score 41 of the Wolves' 81 points and also went 5-of-10 from behind the arc.

"Our youth is encouraging and concerning at the same time," said coach Craig Stanger. "It shows what they are capable of doing but also the areas in which they need to improve."

The Wolves shot 46.7-percent on the game and held the Bruins to a 35.9-percent mark from the floor. WOU also had a distinct advantage at the free throw line as it went 18-of-22 from the charity stripe compared to 12-of-21 for George Fox.

"We shot well but we still need to improve our offensive execution," Stanger noted. "We have to become more efficient finding ways to score within the offense."

WOU held strong on the boards as it won the rebounding battle 43-36, but it gave up 17 offensive boards in the process. Part of this came from the 34 three-pointers attempted by GFU in the contest compared to just 14 long range shots for Western Oregon.

"We need to be better on our defensive rebounding and contesting the perimeter shot," continued Stanger.

The Western Oregon men's basketball team will open the 2009-10 season, Nov. 20th, against Notre Dame de Namur as part of the WOU/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout. Tip-off is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.