Men's Basketball | 12/2/2009 9:22:17 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Tsung-Hsein Chang scored 27 points to lead five Seasiders in double-figures and No. 1 BYU Hawaii shot 63.3-percent from the floor to earn a 94-86 victory over Western Oregon, Wednesday, Dec. 2.

The loss dropped WOU to 4-2, and moved BYUH to 3-0, as they earned their first road win of the season.

The Seasiders made 19 of their 30 shots in each half, including going 7-of-10 from behind the arc in the first period and 10-of-21 for the game. Chang was also efficient from the floor, as he made 12 of his 19 attempts.

"When they had to have a basket their guys came up with one," commented WOU head coach Craig Stanger. "Good teams make you pay, and they were able to take advantage of miscues and ill-advised shots."

The Wolves hung in the game thanks to a hounding defense which forced the Seasiders into nine more turnovers (19-10). WOU also had an 11-point scoring advantage on free throws, as it went 18-of-22 from the charity stripe compared to 8-of-14 for BYUH.

Rico Myles was a force for Western Oregon in both the scoring column and on the glass. He went 9-of-14 from the field to notch a season-best 20 points, while hauling down 12 boards, for his second double-double of the season. This was also the third time in six games that Myles has reached double-figures in rebounds.

Tarance Glynn gave the Wolves a lift off the bench, as he scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting in a reserve role. In addition to Myles, three WOU starters reached double-figures as Matt Schmidt had 16, Kyle Long 11 and Blair Wheadon 10.

BYUH also had four of its five starters reach double-figures in the scoring column, as Virgil Buensuceso registered 18, Rory Patterson 15, Anthony Reilly 11 and Marques Whippy 10.

Despite the decisive shooting percentage advantage for BYU Hawaii, Western Oregon was in the game the entire time. It pulled the game to within six points at the half and again with just under 13 minutes left on a layup by Glynn. The Wolves would withstand another couple of baskets by the Seasiders and cut their lead to just four points on a layup by Myles with 11:04 remaining. BYUH then rallied to score the next six points and push its lead back to 10. WOU would make one more run to pull to within five on a jumper by Kyle Long with 1:48 remaining, but BYUH scored seven of the final 11 points to secure the win.

"I was proud of our resiliency tonight," continued Stanger. "We could have folded but we hung in there and kept chipping away."

The Western Oregon men's basketball team will now take 11 days off as it prepares for a Dec. 14th, home matchup with Northwest Christian. Tip-off is set for 5:15 p.m.