Men's Basketball | 11/25/2009 9:43:01 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Blair Wheadon scored an old fashion three-point play with 2.5 seconds left to lift Western Oregon to a 73-72 victory over No. 22 Humboldt State, Wednesday, Nov. 25th.

This was the third straight win for WOU as it moved to 3-0 to begin a season for the first time since 1993-94. The loss dropped the nationally ranked Lumberjacks to 1-2.

The Wolves showed resilience in the game as they overcame a three-point deficit in the final 1:36 with a 5-1 run to earn the upset. HSU jumped in front 71-68 on a trey by Kyle Baxter and held WOU without a point for the next 1:26 but Wheadon was able to notch five points in the final 10 seconds to lift the Wolves to the win. He first hit two free throws with 10 seconds on the clock and then after HSU went just 1-of-2 at the line with eight second on the clock giving the Wolves and Wheadon chance to tie or take the lead.

Myles rebounded the miss on the second free throw and quickly got the ball to Wheadon who rushed up the left side of the floor. He put his head down and drove hard to the rim, as he drew a foul and converted the layup, to tie the game at 72-72 and giving WOU a chance to take the lead on the free throw. He sunk the shot from the charity stripe to put Western Oregon up one with 2.5 seconds left and a last second shot by HSU fell off the rim, giving the Wolves the upset victory.

"Blair made a good play at the end," said Western Oregon head coach Craig Stanger. "We said if HSU missed their second free throw we wanted our guys to take action and we had faith they would make a play."

It was a complete team effort for Western Oregon as five student-athletes scored in double-figures for the third straight game and it outrebounded HSU 35-27. The seniors took charge for WOU during the game as Mike McLaughlin had a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards, and Matt Schmidt put in a game-high 18 points. Blair Wheadon also chipped in with 15 while Rico Myles added 12 and Kyle Long 10.

"We have to be solid on the boards and contest shots if we want to win," continued Stanger. "We didn't shoot the ball well tonight but we had five guys in double-figures again and found a way to win."

The Wolves also matched a season-low with 12 turnovers and made 14-of-17 free throws to outscore the Lumberjacks by seven from the charity stripe.

"We kept our turnovers down and managed to take good care of the ball," noted Stanger. "This was a very resilient effort by our guys."

Humboldt State fought back into the game after the half with a 21-6 run, to take a 55-54 lead, its first lead since it was 4-2. Zac Tiedeman scored 13 of HSU's 21 points during the run and the 'Jacks forced the Wolves into five turnovers.

Western Oregon had jumped out to an 11-point lead at the half as it shot 65.5-percent in the first period. It hit 19-of-29 shots from the floor and outrebounded HSU 19-11. Schmidt led the charge shooting 5-of-7 from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the arc. WOU posted a 7-0 run early in the game to take a five-point lead at 11-4. The Wolves would continue to hold the lead throughout the half and would close the period on a 16-8 run and take a 45-34 advantage into the intermission.

The Western Oregon's men's basketball team will now travel to the NDNU Thanksgiving Classic Tournament Nov. 27-28. It will face Dominican on Friday and Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday.