Men's Basketball | 11/9/2012 10:51:00 PM

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon men's basketball team was unable to hold onto a 10-point halftime lead as the Wolves fell to Hawai'i Hilo, 89-80, in the regular season opener for both squads on Friday night. With the loss, WOU falls to 0-1 on the season why Hawai'i Hilo improves to 1-0.

The Wolves held the Vulcans to just 27.8 percent from the field (5-of-18) in the first half as WOU managed to build a 36-26 edge at the break. Hawaii Hilo was able  to keep the game close heading into the half as the Vulcans took advantage of 20 first half fouls whistled on the Wolves to hit 15-of-25 from the free throw line.

The Vulcans came out of the break on a 14-4 run as Michael Melonas tied the game at 40-40 with a three-pointer with 15:02 remaining. The Wolves would manage a couple of small leads after the run; however, Hawaii Hilo would grab the lead for good when CJ Brown hit a three-pointer with 11:45 left to make the score 57-54.

WOU would be unable to recover as the Wolves were outscored in the second half, 63-44.

Andy Avgi led WOU in the loss as the freshman scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-12 from the field while adding five rebounds. Rodney Webster added 11 points for the Wolves while James Gehring added nine points and four rebounds in a losing cause. Tyler Funk led WOU with four assists and added six points and two rebounds.

Brown led five Hawaii Hilo players in double figures with 24 points as the Vulcans held an incredible 39-13 advantage over the Wolves at the free throw line.

For the contest, Hawaii Hilo went 39-of-52 from the charity stripe while WOU went 13-of-16 from the line as the Wolves were whistled for 36 fouls.

The Vulcans held a slight edge in rebounds, 35-34, while forcing the Wolves to turn the ball over 15 times.

Western Oregon will look to rebound from the season opening defeat when the Wolves return to action on Saturday, Nov. 10, when they face Chaminade at approximately 4:30 p.m.