Men's Basketball | 12/30/2010 3:55:35 PM

Box Score [Box score]

SEATTLE - Blair Wheadon matched his career-high with 29 points to lead Western Oregon to an 88-85 upset of Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason favorites Seattle Pacific, Thursday, Dec. 30.

Wheadon hit 8-of-11 shots from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point range and all eight shots at the charity stripe, and the Wolves needed every one of them.

They trailed 37-35 at the half, before scoring the first six points after the break to take a four-point advantage (41-37). The Falcons then fought back regain the lead, but the Wolves put together a 17-6 run to build a double-digit lead (73-63) with less than four minutes remaining.

SPU would continue to battle back behind guard Chris Banchero who scored 12 of his 26 points over the final four minutes to bring the Falcons to within one point with two seconds remaining. However, Wheadon would seal the game at the line for WOU with 1.5 seconds left by knocking down two free throws.

The win snapped the Wolves' (7-6, 2-1 GNAC) 11-game losing streak to Seattle Pacific (6-3, 0-1 GNAC) and gave WOU its first 2-1 start in conference play since the 2004-05 season. This was just SPU's second loss to open conference play in the past 10 years.

Tarance Glynn was a force for the Wolves on the frontline. He scored 16 points (13 in the second half) and hauled in 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. He also had five of the Wolves' eight steals in the game.

Western Oregon also got 17 points from Jordan Freelander, who made 5-of-6 shots and 6-of-7 free throws. Kyle Long added 14 points, including nine in the second half.

"We got great energy and execution from everyone," said Western Oregon head coach Craig Stanger. "We played well within the offense and are starting to play with lots of confidence."

For the game, the Wolves shot 50.9 percent from the field and 9-of-19 from behind the arc. However, they were able to pull out the tightly contested game by hitting 23-of-27 free throws, including 19-of-20 in the second half.

"What cost us the game at Hawaii Hilo was free throws, but tonight they are what iced the game," noted Stanger.

WOU needed strong shooting to overcome SPU's rebounding advantage (38-27) and Banchero's double-double (26 points and 10 assists).

"Anytime you can beat the preseason No. 1, especially on their home court, it is a huge win," continued Stanger. "To get a quality win like this early gives us confident going forward in league play."

The Western Oregon basketball team's season will continue this Saturday, Jan. 1 in Billings, Mont., when the Wolves take on the Yellowjackets at 6:30 p.m.