Men's Basketball | 12/12/2011 12:20:00 PM

MEN'S BASKETBALL - WESTERN OREGON AT NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR
Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 – 2:00 p.m. – Belmont, Calif.

LIVE VIDEO ($$): http://www.b2tv.com/partner_members.asp?id=77
LIVE STATS: http://www.ndnuargos.com/sports/2011/2/4/LiveStats.aspx

MEN'S BASKETBALL - WESTERN OREGON AT WASHINGTON STATE
Sunday, Dec. 18, 2011 – 4:35 p.m. – Pullman, Wash.

LIVE VIDEO ($$): http://www.wsucougars.com/allaccess/?media=273812
LIVE STATS: GameTracker

This Weekend
The Western Oregon men's basketball team gets set to head out on the road for back-to-back non-conference matchups over the weekend against Notre Dame de Namur (Dec. 17, 2:00 p.m.) and Washington State (Dec. 18, 4:35 p.m.).

Wolves Set New Records
During their matchup with Walla Walla on Saturday, Dec. 10th, the Wolves streaked their way to highs not only for the school, but also in the conference. They set a new school record of 26 steals in a game.  This also broke the conference record of 22 and the previous school record of 24.

The new record came as Jamaal Veal saw an opening with a 1:58 left in the game to swipe the ball free from Andrew Smith. With his takeaway the new Wolves squad marched their way to the school's record books. Kris White would finish off the record setting night as he snagged WOU 26th steal of the evening.

The original school record was set during the 1995-96 season against Multnomah Bible. The conference record of 22 steals in a game was tied twice, once by Alaska Anchorage when they faced Northland Baptist, and then against when Saint Martin's faced Puget Sound Christian.

Off to a great start
As WOU set new records for both the school and the conference, they also are working together as a team to reach marks that haven't been set for almost 20 years. With Saturday's win against Walla Walla, the Wolves went to 8-1 on the season and have strung together eight consecutive wins for the first time since the 1995-96 squad who finished with a record of 22-8. This also gives the Wolves their best start since the 1982-83 season when they finished 26-6.

WOU routes Walla Walla
The Wolves got off to a fierce start in their game against Walla Walla. After a quick 3-point shot by WWU's Andrew Bailey, Western Oregon fired back.

Blair Wheadon and Jordan Freelander put in back-to-back free throws to take the lead away from WWU and start a 32-0 run for 11 minutes. As the clock ticked down to zero both teams headed into the locker room for halftime WOU found themselves on top 50-11. This would be all that it took for the Wolves to seal the victory as they continued to run up the scoreboard in the second half to a final score of 94-29.

Blair Wheadon led the march to the end as he scored 21 points. Brian McGill sunk in 17, Kyle Long put in 16 of his own, and James Gehring added 10 points to the Wolves' highest scoring game of the season.

Nelson receives GNAC Athlete of the Week
Kolton Nelson's on court performance earns him Great Northwest Athletic Conference athlete of the week honors, for the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4.

Nelson scored 36 points and had 13 rebounds leading the Wolves to come-from-behind road wins at Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene.  WOU, which has won seven straight, overcame a 74-69 deficit with 3:02 left to beat the Wildcats 77-75 going ahead on a layup by Nelson with 39.2 seconds left.  The 6-8 junior center from Klamath Falls, Ore. (Mazama HS), made 10-of-14 shots, including all three of his three-point attempts in the contest.  The Wolves then went on a 10-0 run – including four points by Nelson – to rally from a 62-55 deficit with 4:24 in a 79-75 overtime win against NNU.  In the two contests, Nelson shot 59.3 percent (16-of-27).

A look at the Notre Dame de Namur Argonauts
Conference: PacWest
Record: 3-5 (0-2 PacWest)
Tip off: 2:00 p.m.

Notre Dame de Namur welcomes Western Oregon to their home court after pulling out a 71-70 win over CSU Monterey Bay. Senior Tyler Fricke tipped in the game winner with just .04 seconds remaining on the clock, edging his team to the victory.

Aaron Mollet leads NDNU as he averages 12.4 ppg while Wesley White has snagged 63 rebounds (7.9 rpg).

The Wolves hold an all-time record of 3-0 against the Argonauts. The last time these two teams matched up was during the 2009-10 season when WOU defeated NDNU twice. The Wolves won the first game 84-70 during the WOU/Phoenix Inn D2 Shootout (Nov. 20). The second victory came just eight days later when Western Oregon won 72-53.

A look at the Washington State University Cougars
Conference: Pac-12
Record: 6-4
Tip off: 4:35 p.m.

The Cougars get set to stretch their four-game win streak to five as they continue non-conference play against the Wolves on Sunday, Dec. 18th.

WSU last victory came on Sunday, Dec. 11th, when they routed Santa Clara 93-55. Junior forward Brock Motum scored a career-high 27 points during the victory. Charlie Enquist chipped in with 18 points and 10 rebounds of his own, while Kevin Foster helped the Cougars with 16 points.

Faisal Aden paces the team as he is averaging 16.3 ppg with 114 point total in only seven games. Motum leads the Cougars and is ranked ninth in the Pac-12 with 68 rebounds (6.8 rpg). He also ranks sixth overall in the conference with 156 points (15.6 ppg).

Washington State University leads Western Oregon with a 2-0 all-time record. The last time these two teams played one another was during the 1935-36 season when they saw each other twice. WSU beat WOU 51-29 and 40-33.