Men's Basketball | 2/4/2010 11:10:47 PM

Box Score [Box score]

LACEY, Wash. - Tarance Glynn scored the final five points in overtime, and Rico Myles had a career-high 29 points to lead Western Oregon over Saint Martin's 80-77, Thursday (Feb. 4), at Marcus Pavilion.

This was the Wolves' third road win in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, as they moved their record to 10-9 on the season and 3-5 in league play. The loss was the seventh straight for the Saints, who fell to 11-8 and 1-7 in the GNAC.

Western Oregon trailed 77-75 with 00:32 remaining in overtime, before Glynn hit a layup and was fouled on the shot. He promptly sunk the free shot to complete the three-point play and give the Wolves a one-point lead. He was then fouled on the other end of the floor after grabbing a rebound and proceeded to sink both shots for the Wolves' three-point margin of victory.

"Tarance played very well down the stretch," WOU head coach Craig Stanger explained. "He is good at attacking the basket, and on (his three-point) play he was able to go the rim when their defense wasn't set."

Myles recorded his third double-double in a Wolves' uniform with game-high 29 points and 12 rebounds in the win. He scored 18 of his 29 points in the first half, as he made 7-of-8 shots. He finished the game 12-of-16 from the floor.

"Rico was consistent for us all game," Stanger noted. "He really kept us in it the first half."

The Wolves were also forced to come from behind at the end of regulation. They were able to hold Saint Martin's without a point in the final 3:53 of second half as they clawed their way into a tie. After a Galen Squires layup with 3:53 remaining, neither team would score for the next two-and-a-half minutes until Myles hit a layup off an assist by Matt Schmidt with 1:24 on the clock. The Wolves then forced the GNAC's leading scorer, Blake Poole, into a turnover, giving themselves the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead. On WOU's possession the senior forward Schmidt drew the foul, sending him to the line for a one-and-one. He hit the front-end of the shots to tie the game at 69-69.

However, WOU would still have another chance to win in regulation. After a missed three-pointer by Saint Martin's with 00:12 remaining in regulation, Western Oregon's Blair Wheadon had a chance to win it, but his layup was contested and fell off front-rim, and the game went to overtime.

In the extra period, Glynn and Myles scored all 11 points for the Wolves and Western Oregon held Saint Martin's without a free throw or a three-point field goal. "Our guys willed their way to this win," continued Stanger.

For the game, Western Oregon shot 50-percent for the field (32-of-64) and outrebounded Saint Martin's by four (43-39). On the other side of the ball, WOU's defense held SMU to 7-of-31 from three-point range (23-percent) and only allowed them to reach the free throw line 11 times.

"We knew about their struggles from (the) three," Stanger commented. "We wanted to make them have to beat us from there.

"They are a good defensive team and this was good one to win," continued Stanger.

Western Oregon also received double-digit scoring performances from Schmidt with 13 points and Kyle Long with 10. Those two players combined for all four of the Wolves' treys.

Jeremy Green led Saint Martin's with 20 points, while Blake Poole had 19 points and 18 rebounds. Jared Howard chipped in with 13 points, and Galen Squires had 10.

The Wolves are now 4-1 on the season in games decided by five points or less.

The Western Oregon men's basketball team will now return home to face Central Washington, Saturday (Feb. 6), at 4:30 p.m.

"If we can find a way to beat Central, we will be right in the thick of things in the GNAC," Stanger said.