Men's Basketball | 11/26/2013 8:18:00 PM

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL         BRADY BERGESON INTERVIEW           HOLLI HOWARD-CARPENTER INTERVIEW

WEDNESDAY
Willamette at Western Oregon men, 7 p.m.

FRIDAY
Cal Maritime vs. Corban women, 12 p.m.
Willamette at Western Oregon women, 2 p.m.
Corban vs. Willamette men, 4:15 p.m.

SATURDAY
Women's Third Place Game, 12 p.m.
Women's Championship Game, 2 p.m.
Corban at Western Oregon men, 4:15 p.m.

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Western Oregon University is hosting the 2013 Capital City Classic Wednesday through Saturday. The women's tournament is entering its fifth year, while this will be the fourth men's classic.

This year's women's field features four teams and the men's side has a trio of local teams. The tournament has rotated from Corban, Willamette and Western Oregon over the past five years. The three schools are participating in this year's tournament once again. The women play a four-game bracket-style tournament with a semifinal round, third place game, and championship game. The men will play a round-robin tournament.

This year's tournament opens Wednesday with the Western Oregon men hosting Willamette. The Wolves have won all three previous Capital City Classic tournaments with a perfect 6-0 record. WOU and the Bearcats last met in the 2010 Capital City Classic Championship Game. Western Oregon cruised to a 96-73 victory behind a tournament-record breaking 33-point and seven made three-pointer effort by Kyle Long.

Wednesday's meeting between Willamette and the Wolves will be the 88th all-time in the series. WOU has won four straight over the Bearcats and holds a slim 44-43 edge in the series all-time.

Willamette (0-3) began its season with three consecutive losses, but all three were by a combined 11 points, including a 63-61 setback in its last contest. The Bearcats opened their season with a pair of losses in California, before falling at home last Saturday. WU lost five of its top seven scorers from its 2012-13 team, but returns Avery Manu, who is one of three Bearcats averaging double-digits to begin the season. The senior is scoring 14.3 points per outing. Brandon Luedtke and Alex Brown are adding 12.3 and 10.7 points.

Western Oregon opened its season with a couple of daunting opponents. The Wolves (2-3) have already faced a trio of teams that appeared in the NCAA Div. II West Regional Tournament last season. WOU upset then-ranked No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona two weeks ago, before falling by four points to No. 15 Dixie State in its last game. Marwan Sarhan is one of three Wolves averaging double-figures. Sarhan leads Western Oregon with 12.4 points per game, while Rodney Webster and Adam Hastings are adding 11.8 and 10.0 points.

Corban (3-3) rides into the Capital City Classic after a loss at NCAA Div. III George Fox University Tuesday. The Warriors dropped a 95-82 decision to George Fox. Prior to that setback, Corban's two losses were by a combined 13 points. CU is averaging 10 made three-pointers per contest, while shooting 40 percent from behind-the-arc. Jordan Carter leads the Warriors at 19.8 points per game. The senior guard is making 63 percent of his shots.

The Warriors fell to Western Oregon in last year's championship game, 71-61. The Wolves' Andy Avgi was named the tournament MVP, and teammate Jordan Wiley was selected to the All-Tournament Team. Carter was named All-Tournament in 2011, and owns the tournament record for free throws made in a game, with 10 against Willamette in 2010.

The women's bracket also features Western Oregon, Corban, and Willamette. The California Maritime Academy rounds out the field in its debut in the Classic. Corban and Willamette appear in the tournament for the fifth time, while Western Oregon makes its second appearance. The Wolves won last year's title with a 75-66 victory at Corban in the championship game. The Warriors have won six of their eight games in the tournament's history.

The women's tournament was also known as the Bruce Henderson Memorial Holiday Classic. The tournament paid tribute to former Willamette women's basketball Head Coach Bruce Henderson, who collapsed during practice and died from an apparent heart-related incident on Dec. 8, 2008. Henderson, in his fourth year as Willamette's head coach, was 47 years old.

This year's tournament begins Friday at noon. NAIA programs, Corban and Cal Maritime, matchup in the 2013 opener. The Warriors (2-3) are no stranger to neutral site games, playing four already this season on these types of courts. Tara Vanweerdhuizen has been a force inside for Corban. She moved to the top of CU's all-time block list last week at the beginning of her junior season. The Spokane, Wash. native, leads Corban in four statistical categories through the Warriors' first five games, including points (16.4), rebounds (10.8), steals (1.0), and blocked shots (2.2).

Cal Maritime (3-5) has already played four games in the state of Oregon this season. One of the Keelhaulers' three victories came at NCAA Div. II opponent, Sonoma State, 57-47. Javier Brantley leads Cal Maritime with 13 points per outing. She is adding 4.3 rebounds per game. Three other Keelhaulers are averaging eight points per contest, including Tatjana Pitts, who is adding a team-high 5.0 rebounds per game.

Western Oregon and Willamette renew their rivalry in the second game Friday at 2 p.m. The Wolves have won 28 of the 33 all-time meetings. WOU defeated the Bearcats, 71-53, in the Capital City Classic semifinals last year. Prior to last season's matchup, the rivalry was on a six-year hiatus. The teams separated by 15 miles have only met twice since 1996.

The Bearcat women (1-3) are having the same luck as the WU men. Two of Willamette's three losses were by one possession, including a 70-69 setback to Warner Pacific in its last game. WPC hit a shot with two seconds remaining in the contest to claim the home win. Jojo DeLong was named the Northwest Conference Player of the Week after averaging 22 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 9.0 assists in last week's games.

Western Oregon will have a 13-day break between games when it faces Willamette. The Wolves (0-3) are off to a slow start due to sluggish second half play. WOU has outscored opponents, 91-83, in the first half this season, but are behind 111-78 in the second half. Dana Goularte is averaging a double-double this season with 15.7 points and 10.3 rebounds per game. Chantel Divilbiss is adding 12 points per outing. This will be the fourth of seven games WOU has at home to open the season.

Goularte was named the tournament MVP last year. She totaled 37 points in the Wolves' two victories, including 14 in WOU's 75-66 win over Corban in the championships. Vanweerdhuizen had a double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Her rebound total was the third most in tournament history, but she owns the tournament record of 18 in the first game last year. She was named All-Tournament for her efforts in 2012.

Tickets to this year's tournament are six dollars per day, with entry into each game that day for that price. WOU Faculty and Staff are five dollars, senior-citizens and non-WOU students are four dollars, while WOU students with valid ID and children 12 and under are free. Tickets may be purchased at the door of the game. There are no tournament passes available. Admission is one-dollar off with the donation of two non-perishable food items.

Every game will have live video and live stats on WOUWolves.com.