Men's Basketball | 12/4/2010 6:51:40 PM

Box Score [Box score]

MONMOUTH, Ore. - Blair Wheadon's 29 points led four Wolves in double-figures as Western Oregon collected its first conference victory of the season with an 81-77 win over Northwest Nazarene on Saturday, Dec. 4.

The win snaps the Wolves' four-game losing streak against NNU and evens their record in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference at 1-1 (5-4 overall). The loss was the second straight for the Crusaders (2-4, 0-2 GNAC) to start conference play.

Wheadon hit 11-of-16 shots from the field and 4-of-6 from three-point range. He scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half, including nine straight and 15 of the Wolves' final 19 points to end the half. He also added three assists, three rebounds and four steals.

"Blair was feeling it tonight so we wanted to keep getting him open looks," explained Western Oregon head coach Craig Stanger. "He did a nice job leading the team, not just in scoring but in distributing and being active on defense. It was just an all-around outstanding performance."

Tarance Glynn added 19 points, on 7-of-10 shooting, and a team-high seven rebounds. Kolton Nelson came through with 13 points and five boards in a critical matchup against the Crusaders' talented frontcourt. Kyle Long also got in double-figures with 12 points. As a team, Western Oregon shot 50.9 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from long range.

"We shot the ball well and defensively we did a very good job," explained Stanger.

The teams played even basketball until under eight minutes in the first half when Wheadon led Western Oregon on a 19-10 run to close the half with a 42-32. Wheadon scored 15 points during this stretch as he hit 7-of-10 shots from the field.

That double-digit lead would not hold up long for Western Oregon in the second half as NNU cut it to four points with 14 minutes left. The Wolves then responded by scoring five straight points on a layup by Glynn and an and-1 basket by Wheadon.

The Crusaders then fought back to make it a two-point game at the six minute mark and then cut it to one with 1:18 on the clock. The Wolves then got Glynn the ball on the block and he drew the foul and knocked down both free throws to push the lead back to three. After Long added a free throw, Drew Eisinger hit a layup for NNU to cut the lead back to two (79-77). Jamaal Veal then sealed the game for Western Oregon at the free throw line by making 1-of-2 free throws, then grabbing the offensive rebound before getting fouled and hitting another 1-of-2 free throws.

Brian Barkdoll had a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds, and Drew Eisinger added 21 points to lead the Crusaders.

The Western Oregon men's basketball team will now take a week-long competition hiatus corresponding to Finals Week at the university. The Wolves will return to action next Saturday (Dec. 11) against Simpson at 3:30 p.m.