Men's Basketball | 1/24/2013 11:38:00 PM

Box Score

SEATTLE, Wash. – The Western Oregon men's basketball team gave No. 5 Seattle Pacific all it could handle; however, the Wolves fell to the Falcons in overtime, 78-72, in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest on Thursday night. With the loss, WOU falls to 8-8 overall, 3-5 in league play, while the Falcons improved to 14-2 overall, 7-1 in GNAC action.

WOU battled the Falcons throughout as the Wolves led most of the first half, holding a 34-30 lead at the break. SPU responded by building a 13-point lead with 6:11 remaining; however, a furious WOU rally would give the Wolves a chance to win.

Trailing 57-44, WOU would use a 22-9 run over the final six minutes of the half to force overtime in dramatic fashion. As SPU hit a one-of-2 from the line to make the score 66-64, WOU threw a pass the length of the floor as the Andy Avgi found Jordan Wiley at the top of the key.

The freshman had an open, albeit long, look for the win as the shot rattled in-and-out and into the hands of a charging Rodney Webster. The Wolves guard calmly converted the rebound at the buzzer, sending the game into overtime with the score tied at 66-66.

Unfortunately for the Wolves, SPU responded by going on a 9-2 run to open overtime as the Falcons eventually overcame the WOU challenge with a 78-72 victory.

WOU finished the night with five players in double figures, led by Kolton Nelson who had 13 points of 5-of-6 from the floor to lead the Wolves. Tyler Funk and James Gehring each came off the bench to score 11 for WOU as the Wolves held a 35-12 advantage in bench points.

The Wolves shot 43.3 percent (26-of-60) from the field and an impressive 41.2 percent (7-of-17) from the three-point line. SPU countered by hitting 13-of-28 (46.4 percent) from behind the arc as the Falcons won the contest on the free throw line, hitting 19-of-32 charity shots to just  13-of-16 for the Wolves.

Jobi Wall led SPU with 28 points while Patrick Simon added 20 for the Falcons.

WOU returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 26, when the Wolves travel to Montana State Billings to take on the Yellowjackets at 6:30 p.m.