Men's Basketball | 3/5/2009 10:44:27 PM

[Box score]

FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The Western Oregon University men's basketball team earned a 76-63 win at Alaska Fairbanks, Thursday (Mar. 5) in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest.

The win snapped a three-game skid for the Wolves as they improved to 10-16 on the season and 4-11 in the GNAC. The loss drops the Nanooks to 6-18 and 3-12 in conference.

Blair Wheadon led Western Oregon with 24 points as he went 8-for-12 from the field including 4-of-7 from three-point range. Travis Kuhns added 16 points and six rebounds. Tyler Blok led Western Oregon with seven boards. Sam Kelly scored all 13 of his points in the first half on 5-of-9 shooting. Colin Matteson and Aaron Jones led Alaska Fairbanks with 16 apiece.

WOU committed just 11 turnovers in the game while UAF had 19. Western Oregon also had 18 assists on 26 field goals and shot 15-of-17 from the free throw line. However, Alaska Fairbanks outrebounded Western Oregon 41 to 29.

The Wolves jumped out to a 29-12 lead just over nine minutes into the game led by Kelly which notched 11 of his 13 points. WOU would continue to run at UAF and take a 24-point lead at halftime (46-22). The Wolves shot 51.4 percent in the half and committed only four turnovers while forcing the Nanooks into 11 turnovers and a 31 percent shooting mark from the field.

In the second half, Alaska Fairbanks made a comeback run as WOU would score only 30 points as it shot just 30.8 percent from the floor. The Nanooks cut the Wolves lead to single-digits at 66-58 on an Aaron Jones layup with 2:27 remaining. WOU's lead would be whittled to six points on a Mike Anderson layup at the 1:43 mark. Western Oregon would respond with a 10-3 run to close out the game and seal the win. During the run the Wolves made 6-of-7 free throws and both shot attempts while receiving a crucial block by Wheadon in the corner on a three-point attempt by Jones.

"We shot well early and played solid defense and were able to hang on for the victory," said Western Oregon head coach Craig Stanger.

The Western Oregon men's basketball team will close out the 2008-09 season Saturday, Mar. 7, against Alaska Anchorage with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. (ast).