Men's Basketball | 2/17/2009 2:18:09 AM

[Complete release]

The team...
The Western Oregon men's basketball team has won two straight home games after an 85-83 upset over Great Northwest Athletic Conference leader and NCAA west region second ranked Western Washington. This week the Wolves will close out its 2008-09 home schedule when it faces Central Washington Thursday (Feb. 19) at 7:00 p.m., and Northwest Nazarene Saturday (Feb. 21) at 2:00 p.m.

Central Washington preview...
Central Washington (14-5, 8-3 GNAC) enters the game ranked fourth in the west region and in second place in the GNAC standings. The Wildcats are ranked 15th in the country with 85.5 points and 18 assists per game.

Matt Penoncello is eighth in the GNAC in rebounding (6.3) and 11th in scoring (15.6) to lead CWU in both categories. Jake Beitinger shoots 50.3 percent from the floor while averaging 14.5 points per game and 5.8 rebounds.

Central Washington leads the all-time series 36-7 and has won the last six contests after defeating WOU 90-66 in Ellensburg (Feb. 7). In the game, Central Washington went 10 of 24 from three-point range and Brandon Foote led all scorers with 21 points on nine-of-16 shooting. Travis Kuhns led Western Oregon with 20 points.

Northwest Nazarene preview...
The Northwest Nazarene Crusaders are 10-11 this season and currently sit in last place in the GNAC with a record of 2-9. NNU has lost seven straight games and nine of its last 10. Its lone victory during that period came against Western Oregon 92-75 (Jan. 17). The Crusaders lead NCAA Division II with a 79.2 free throw percentage. NNU is also hitting 39.1 percent of its long range shots and 7.38 treys per game to rank second in the GNAC in both.

Brian Barkdoll is 14th in DII with a 61.8 field goal percentage. He is second on the team with 13.1 ppg and 5.3 rpg. Kendall Gielow leads NNU in points and rebounds with 14.9 and 5.7, respectively. Joel Ryman ranks fifth in the conference with 2.52 treys a game.

Northwest Nazarene win earlier this season extended its lead in the all-time series with Western Oregon to 25-19. In the game, Kendall Gielow led a group of five Northwest Nazarene players in double figures as the host Crusaders topped the Wolves 92-75. Gielow had a career-high 24 points in the game. Blair Wheadon led WOU in scoring with 23 points as he went 9-of-12 from the field. NNU led 45-38 at the half, but the Wolves would open the second frame strong, cutting the lead to three after a Sam Kelly three-pointer made it 55-52 with 15:22 to play. But the Crusaders would answer, scoring eight straight points with Gielow getting a jumper and Ryman draining back-to-back three's to push the lead back to 11.

Last week...
Western Oregon earned a split against two of the top teams in the GNAC as it fell at Seattle Pacific 83-77 before upsetting No. 25 Western Washington at home 85-83.

Rafael Moreira scored 28 points and Chris Banchero added 26 to lead Seattle Pacific to victory. Travis Kuhns had a career-high 33 points in the loss as he went 11-of-22 from the field, 5-of-9 from three-point range and 6-of-6 at the line. With the score was tied 61-61 with 7:25 remaining after a Schmidt free throw, Moreira hit a layup which proved to put SPU up for good. Moreira and Brandon Larrieu would combine to score 16 of the Falcon's 22 points over the final 7:25. Kuhns had 10 of the Wolves 16 points during this stretch including eight straight at one point.

On Saturday, Steve Alford's three-pointer at the buzzer hit side rim as WOU hung on for an 85-83 win. Travis Kuhns led Western Oregon with 23 points and seven assists. He was 7-of-10 from the field, 4-of-6 from three-point range and 5-of-7 at the free throw line. With the game tied 70-70 after Ira Graham made both his free throws for WWU, Western Oregon went on a 12-5 run to go on top 82-75 with 3:23 remaining. All 12 points came from behind the arc as Kuhns hit two three-pointers during the run and Marcus Harris and Wheadon each added one. Western Washington then responded with three straight baskets to pull within one point at 82-81 on a Michael Duty dunk with 1:35 remaining. Western Washington then fouled Kuhns on a drive sending the WOU senior to the line for two. After he knocked both shots down Graham raced up the floor and converted a layup with 0:17 left in the game. Western Oregon inbounded the ball to Kuhns on the following possession and he knocked down one of two free throws. WWU then had a chance to win the game but Alford's three-point attempt from the corner hit side rim as time expired sealing the victory for Western Oregon.

Kuhns named GNAC Player of the Week, again...
Travis Kuhns was named co-Great Northwest Athletic Conference player of the week for the week of Feb. 9-15. Kuhns, a 6-8 senior from Salem, Ore. (Sprague High School), moved into 18th place in GNAC history with 1,340 career points. In two games last week, he scored 56 points as he made 18-of-32 shots including nine-of-15 treys. He also accounted for nearly a third (11-of-36) of WOU's assists. This is the second time this season Kuhns has earned GNAC player of the week honors.

Notes on Wolves' players...
Kuhns is leading WOU in scoring (17.6) and assists (4.0). He has notched double figures in 20 of 22 games. Last week, he scored a career-high 33 points against Seattle Pacific and followed it up with 23 points in a win over Western Washington. Kuhns ranks fifth in the GNAC in assists and seventh in scoring...Mike McLaughlin has recorded two straight double-doubles and now has five on the season. He is the team's leading rebounder with eight boards per game and he also shoots 52.2 percent from the floor. His eight rebounds per game rank him third in the GNAC. Last week, he recorded 25 points and 22 rebounds over the two-game span...Stanley Ratcliff is second in the GNAC with a 65.5 field goal percentage. He is averaging 9.1 points and 4.9 boards in 23 minutes a game...Freshman point guard Blair Wheadon has scored in double-figures in 13 of 23 games this season including three of the past four games. He is second on the team with 11.9 ppg and 3.1 assists...Sam Kelly is fourth in the GNAC with 34.05 minutes per game. Kelly has put up 10.3 ppg and 4.1 rpg during his senior campaign...Matt Schmidt has come off the bench to score 10 or more points in four of the last five games. He hit the game-winning free throw against MSU Billings with 2.1 seconds left.

Kuhns in the GNAC record books...
Travis Kuhns is ranked among the top 25 GNAC career leaders in six categories. He is 14th in steals (137), 16th in blocks (79), 18th in scoring (1,340), 20th in three-pointers (144), 23rd in assists (275) and 25th in rebounds (497). He needs five steals to pass WOU standout Kevin Tyner for 11th in GNAC history. Kuhns also needs just four blocks to move to 14th on the all-time list and four treys to move into 19th place.