Men's Basketball | 1/10/2012 5:39:00 PM

MEN'S BASKETBALL - SAINT MARTIN'S AT WESTERN OREGON
Saturday, Jan. 14, 2011 – 7:00 p.m. – Monmouth, Ore.

TICKETS: https://www.vendini.com/ticket-software.html?w=64842a3d315b28c4909efccca718a02e&t=tix
LIVE VIDEO: www.pennatlantic.com
LIVE STATS: http://athletics.wou.edu/live/xlive.htm

This Week:
The first place Western Oregon men's basketball team heads back to their home court for one game this weekend. They will face Saint Martin's on Saturday, Jan. 14th at 7:00 p.m.

WOU Holds Alumni Night
Western Oregon men's basketball alumni are encouraged to attend a men's basketball reunion on Saturday, January 14, prior to the home game against Saint Martin's at 7:00 p.m.  All former men's OCE/WOU basketball players and their families are invited to attend.

Festivities will begin with a social hour at the Werner University Center-Pacific Room at 4:00 p.m., followed by dinner and discussion with first year head coach Brady Bergeson. Following the event, make sure to catch the men's basketball team in action as they take on Saint Martin's at 7:00 p.m. at the New PE Gymnasium.

If you wish to attend or need further details, please contact Lance Marr (Basketball Alumni, class of '93) at 503-709-4872 or marr.lance@gmail.com.

Wolves Keep on Winning:
WOU has found a way to make head coach Brady Bergeson's first year at Western Oregon a memorable one. With their 83-73 victory on Saturday over No. 23 Western Washington they remain perfect in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference with a record of 6-0.

Bergeson's squad has also now won 10 straight games against Division-II opponents to improve to 13-2 on the season.

The last time that the Wolves started the season with a record of 13-2 was during the 1981-82 season when they won their first 22 games of the season and finished the year at 30-2.

Wheadon Named GNAC Player of the Week:
Blair Wheadon has been named the GNAC Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 2-8, he helped lead the Western Oregon men's basketball team its best ever start in the GNAC.

The senior guard from Junction City, Ore. (Junction City HS) scored 45 points including 29 in Saturday's 83-73 win at Western Washington where he made 7-of-8 three-point shots. Wheadon hit 12-of-25 shots, 9-of-15 shots on three-pointers, in WOU's two-game road trip. He was also 12-of-12 from the foul line and had 12 assists and four steals.

His seven three-pointers against WWU matched the second highest single-game total in GNAC history for players with just one miss, falling one short of the record of eight set by Robert Hicks of Central Washington against Humboldt State on Jan. 26, 2006. After missing his third attempt, he made his last five.

Wolves knock off No. 23 Western Washington:
Wheadon hit 7-of-8 from behind the arc and scored 29 points to lead Western Oregon to an 83-73 win over No. 23 Western Washington on Saturday (Jan. 7) at Carver Gym.

This win was the Wolves first in Bellingham since 1995. This was the Vikings' first loss in conference play, as they fell to 4-1 in the GNAC and 13-3 overall.

Wheadon scored 19 of his season-high 29 points in the opening half, including the Wolves' last eight of the period. WOU also got 14 points from James Gehring and Kyle Long. Gehring added nine rebounds to help Western Oregon dominate the Vikings on the glass 38 to 26, including 25 to eight on second chance points. 

The game was back and forth early on before a 16-2 run by the Wolves midway through the first half would give a 30-17 lead, one that they would never relinquish. WOU led 36-25 at the half and pushed their lead to as many as 15 in the second half. The Vikings would fight their way back to five points with 1:43 remaining but the Wolves connected on 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the victory. 

Wolves in the GNAC Rankings:
Wheadon currently ranks third in the conference with a 49.1 three-point percentage, fourth with an 84.5 ft%, and eighth with 15.5 ppg. Wheadon and Long sit fifth and sixth in one steals with 29 and 28 steals, respectively. James Gehring ranks second with a 60.7 field goal percentage.

Blair Wheadon and Kyle Long going for 1,000 points:
Wheadon and Long have a chance to become only the sixth set of teammates in GNAC history to each score over 1,000 in their career.

Wheadon, who reached the 1,000 point plateau during his junior year, has 1,438 career points to rank 17th on the GNAC all-time list. He also has exactly 900 points in conference games and needs 100 more to become the 12th player in conference history to score 1,000 points in conference contests.

With Long's 14 points on Saturday against Western Washington it ranks him 53rd on the GNAC's all-time career scoring list with 956 points. He is looking to become 47th player to score 1,000 points in GNAC history.

There has been five other 1,000 point set of teammates in GNAC history that have played together for more than two years. The last pair of Western Oregon student-athletes to achieve this status was Robert Day (2,110) and Sean Kelly (1,128) who played together from 2002-04 seasons.

A Look at The Saint Martin's Saints:
Saint Martin's heads to Monmouth with a record of 6-9 (2-4 GNAC). They won their last game against Simon Fraser on Jan. 7th, 90-68, behind Jeremy Green's 26 points. The Saints had only five turnovers in the victory.

Green leads SMU with 18.9 ppg and a 55.5 fg%.

Last season SMU swept WOU in the season series winning 85-54 in Lacey, Wash., and 89-68 in Monmouth.

Western Oregon and Saint Martin's enter this year with the all-time series record tied at 27-27.

Other Notes:
The other schools that have had 1,000 point duos have included two from Western Washington (Grant Dykstra and Ryan Diggs, 2002-06, Jacob Stevenson, Shelton Diggs, and A.J. Giesa, 1998-02), Seattle Pacific (Tony Binetti and Jason Chivers, 2002-05), and Humboldt State (Austin Nichols and Fred Hooks, 2000-04)…Since scoring his career-high 17 points against Montana Tech, Gehring has scored in double figures four times…The Wolves are 4-0 when Wheadon scores 20 or more points...Western Oregon has only trailed four times at the half during the season…The last time the Wolves were 5-0 at home was 2003-04…Wheadon has now scored double-digits in 12 games this season…Wheadon and Long have combined for double-digit points 10 times this season…The Wolves are 13-0 when Long and Wheadon combine for over 20 points…During the two losses on the season Wheadon and Long only combined for 17 points against Chaminade and 16 points against Washington State.