Men's Basketball | 12/3/2011 9:15:00 PM

Box Score [Box score]

NAMPA, Idaho - For the second game in a row the Western Oregon men's basketball team staged a late comeback to pick up another win in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference. This time the Wolves were down seven points with under four minutes left but they scored 10 straight points to force overtime and earn the 79-75 win over Northwest.

Kyle Long led five Western Oregon student-athletes in double figures with 15 points. He also added a game-high six assists. The Wolves also got 14 points from Blair Wheadon, 13 apiece from James Gehring and Kolton Nelson, and 11 from Jordan Freelander. Jamaal Veal and Nelson led the team with seven rebounds.

The Wolves were down seven points before Nelson hit a layup with 3:33 remaining. Wheadon and Nelson then each hit jumpers on the following possessions to pull WOU within one. Western Oregon's defense then came through as it got a steal and Kyle Long laid it in to give WOU the one point lead. A pair free throws by Freelander extended the Wolves' lead to three (65-62) with 22 seconds remaining. On the following possession the Crusaders scrambled on offense but were able to find Andy Maxwell in corner for a fade away 3-pointer to tie the game at 65-65 with 2.1 seconds remaining.

The teams were even the first half of overtime before Western scored four straight to take a 74-70 lead with 24 seconds remaining. They then hung on for the 79-75 win.

The Wolves pulled off the tight win thanks to hitting 23-of-27 shots at the free throw line and winning the turnover battle 23-13.

This was the seventh straight win for Western Oregon (7-1, 2-0 GNAC). The loss drops NNU to 4-3 on the season and 0-2 in the GNAC. 

Western Oregon men's next game will be Dec. 10th at home against Walla Walla at 6:00 p.m.