Men's Basketball | 1/4/2012 5:53:00 PM
MEN'S BASKETBALL - WESTERN OREGON AT SIMON FRASER
Thursday, Jan. 5, 2012 – 7:00 p.m. – Monmouth, Ore.
LIVE VIDEO: www.pennatlantic.com
LIVE STATS: http://cgi.sfu.ca/~athlwww/livestats/bball/xlive.htm
MEN'S BASKETBALL - WESTERN OREGON AT WESTERN WASHINGTON
Saturday, Jan. 7, 2012 – 2:00 p.m. – Monmouth, Ore.
LIVE VIDEO: www.pennatlantic.com
LIVE STATS: Gametracker
This Week:
The Western Oregon men's basketball team looks to continue their undefeated streak in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play as they head back on the road to faceoff against Simon Fraser (Jan. 5th) and then against Western Washington on Jan. 7th. Both games will tipoff at 7:00 p.m.
Wolves Take GNAC By Storm:
Thus far in the season WOU (11-2, 4-0 GNAC) stands alone at the top of their conference standings, as they are the only team with a 4-0 record. Western Washington and Alaska Anchorage are tied with a record of 3-0.
With Western Oregon's win on Saturday against Montana State Billings, it gives the team their eighth straight win against Division-II opponents. WOU is also 5-0 in games decided by three points or less or in overtime.
GNAC Statistical Leaders:
WOU continues to move their way up different GNAC statistical categories. As a team the Wolves rank second with 121 steals (9.3 spg), third overall with a 62.4 scoring defensively, field goal pct. defensive .396 pct. field goals made. They also rank third with a .383 3-point fg pct.
James Gehring ranks third in the GNAC with a .582 field goal percentage while
Blair Wheadon,
Kyle Long and
Jordan Freelander rank 5-7th in the steals category.
There Is No Place Like Home:
Western Oregon has made their home court a very hard place to play for their opponents. This season the Wolves are undefeated at home with a 5-0 record. These wins have not come easy every time for WOU though. Their first two games at home WOU was only able to win by two points in each contest. They defeated Cal State Eastbay, 73-71, and Augustana, 60-58.
The last time the Wolves were able to start the season 5-0 was during the 2007-08 season. They finished 15-12.
A Look At The Simon Fraser The Clan:
Simon Fraser welcomes the Wolves to Burnaby, B.C. as part of their five-game home stand. SFU is 5-3 overall and 0-3 GNAC. During the current home stand the Clan has gone 1-2, as their only win came against Kwantlen Polytechnic, as they got their largest margin of victory with a 87-39 win.
Javari Williams leads the team with 23.8 ppg and 13 blocked shots. Ibrahim Appiah paces the Clan with 78 rebounds (7.1 rpg).
Last season, WOU swept SFU when they won the first game by a score of 95-80 in Monmouth and then in Burnaby, B.C., 80-73.
SFU leads all-time with a record of 10-9.
A Look At The Western Washington Vikings:
After the Wolves head North of the Border they will travel towards Western Washington. Western Washington will welcome in Western Oregon with a record of 12-2 overall and 3-0 in the GNAC. Before the Vikings see the Wolves they will have a game on their home court against Saint Martin's on Thursday.
Currently WWU is on a nine-game winning streak, as their last loss has not come since Nov. 6th, when they lost by 11 points (80-71) against Chestnut Hill in Anaheim, Calif.
The Vikings head coach, Brad Jackson, is one win away from earning his 500th victory, and becoming just the fifth collegiate coach in the state of Washington, male of female, to reach this milestone.
Rory Blanche leads the team with 15.0 ppg and 7.7 rebounds a game. John Allen paces the Vikings with a .438 3-point percentage and 2.3 steals a game.
Last season WWU swept WOU with a 84-81 overtime win in Monmouth and 85-79 win in Bellingham.
Western Washington leads Western Oregon with an all-time record of 35-15.
