Men's Basketball | 2/24/2011 9:56:31 PM

Box Score [Box score]

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Blair Wheadon had 24 points and Tarance Glynn added 16 but it was not enough for the Wolves to upend the Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season champion, Central Washington, as they fell 71-57 on Thursday (Feb. 24).

The loss locks Western Oregon (13-15, 8-10 GNAC) into the sixth seed in the conference tournament. The Wolves will go on the road to face the third seed Seattle Pacific on Monday, Feb. 28. The win gave CWU, the West Region's No. 1 ranked team, a final regular season record of 23-3 (16-2 GNAC).

While Wheadon and Glynn both had strong offensive games, the Wolves struggled as a team offensively. Glynn and Wheadon combined for 40 of the team's 57 points and the Wolves hit just 38 percent of their shots.

Central stormed out if the games on its senior day. CWU scored the first four points of the game and 14 of the first 18 to build a lead it would never relinquish.

WOU trailed 38-27 at the half but cut the Wildcats' lead to six points by scoring the first five points of the second period. However, this would be as close as the Wolves would come to sniffing the lead.

Jamar Berry led four Wildcats in double-figures with 22 pints. Chris Sprinker also chipped in with 11 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. The Wildcats' bench also played a large factor in the game by outscoring the Wolves 33-4, led by 12 apiece from Jody Johnson and Coby Gibler.