Men's Basketball | 11/27/2013 9:38:00 PM

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Five Western Oregon University men's basketball student-athletes finished scoring in double figures in an 88-77 victory over Willamette University in the first game of the 2013 Capital City Classic Wednesday.

The Wolves (3-3) remained unbeaten in the tournament's four-year history. WOU has won all seven of its games in the Classic all-time. Willamette is 3-4 in the tournament all-time.

Western Oregon had three players finish with 16 points. Adam Hastings, Lewis Thomas, and Marwan Sarhan all scored 16. Hastings was 7-of-10, Thomas made three of his four shots from behind-the-arc, and Sarhan had double digits for the fifth time out of six games this season. Sarhan made all six of his free throw attempts and is now 26-of-29 this year. He and Mirza Sabic both had seven rebounds. Sabic added 14 points off of the bench, and Rodney Webster had 15. Devon Alexander dished out four assists and made three steals. Thomas finished with three blocks.

The Wolves, who never trailed in the contest, jumped out to a 16-2 lead and held off any Willamette rally. Western Oregon outrebounded the Bearcats, 34-21. WOU made 50 percent of its shots from the field. It made five of its 16 three-point shots and 29-of-35 from the free throw line. The Bearcats shot 33 percent from the field in the first half, but finished 42 percent. WU was 5-for-18 from behind-the-perimeter and 24-of-30 from the free throw line. The Wolves scored 36 points in the paint.

Western Oregon used a 14-0 run to spread away from the Bearcats in the first four minutes of the game. A Sarhan jumper with 8:48 remaining in the first half gave the Wolves a 31-11 advantage, its largest lead in the game. Willamette went on a 13-4 run to close the margin to 11 points. WOU led 47-33 at halftime.

A pair of Manu Avery free throws closed the gap to single digits four minutes into the second half, 50-41. Two minutes later, Willamette made the score, 53-45, after a lay-in by Brandon Luedtke. WOU built the lead back to 18 points just six minutes later. The Wolves had a double-digit lead for the majority of the rest of the game.

Avery led Willamette (0-4) with 17 points. He was 4-of-9 from the field. His 9-of-9 free throw shooting matched the second-most made free throws in a single game in tournament history. Luedtke's game-high seven assists also matched the second-most in the Classic's history. He added 11 points and four steals. Alex Brown and Alex Hansen scored 13 and 10 points.

The Bearcats face cross-town rival Corban University (3-3) in the second game of the Capital City Classic at WOU Friday at 4:15 p.m. The women's tournament begins Friday with games at 12 and 2 p.m. The Western Oregon men play Corban Saturday at 4:15 p.m. Live stats for every game will be on WOUWolves.com. Live video will be available for games featuring WOU.

Willamette vs Western Oregon
11/27/13 7 p.m. at Monmouth, OR
At Monmouth, OR
WESTERN OREGON 88, WILLAMETTE 77
WILLAMETTE (0-4)
Manu, Avery 4-9 9-9 17; Brown, Alex 4-9 5-5 13; Luedtke, Brandon 4-9 3-4 11;
Hansen, Alex 3-10 1-2 10; Stevens, Jake 4-5 1-2 9; Smith, Talanoa 1-4 3-4 6;
Gibbs, Robbie 1-1 0-2 3; Ripley, Noah 1-1 0-0 2; McNally, Kyle 1-1 0-0 2;
Jackson, Joseph 0-3 2-2 2; Russell, Hayden 1-3 0-0 2; Vasquez, Rich 0-1 0-0
0; Harlington, Bridger 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 24-57 24-30 77.
WESTERN OREGON (3-3)
Hastings,Adam 7-10 2-4 16; Sarhan,Marwan 5-6 6-6 16; Thomas,Lewis 5-10 3-5
16; Webster,Rodney 4-5 7-9 15; Sabic,Mirza 4-9 4-4 14; Alexander,Devon 1-5
3-3 5; Schriber,Jordan 0-4 4-4 4; Holbrook,Eric 1-2 0-0 2; Wiley,Jordan 0-2
0-0 0; Johnson,Drew 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-53 29-35 88.
Willamette....................   33   44  -   77
Western Oregon................   47   41  -   88
3-point goals--Willamette 5-18 (Hansen, Alex 3-6; Smith, Talanoa 1-3; Gibbs,
Robbie 1-1; Jackson, Joseph 0-3; Russell, Hayden 0-2; Vasquez, Rich 0-1;
Manu, Avery 0-2), Western Oregon 5-16 (Thomas,Lewis 3-4; Sabic,Mirza 2-6;
Alexander,Devon 0-2; Schriber,Jordan 0-1; Holbrook,Eric 0-1; Wiley,Jordan
0-2). Fouled out--Willamette-None, Western Oregon-None. Rebounds--Willamette
21 (McNally, Kyle 5; Luedtke, Brandon 5), Western Oregon 34 (Sabic,Mirza 7;
Hastings,Adam 7). Assists--Willamette 13 (Luedtke, Brandon 7), Western
Oregon 10 (Alexander,Devon 4). Total fouls--Willamette 28, Western Oregon
23. Technical fouls--Willamette-None, Western Oregon-None. A-287
Game 1 of the 2013 Capital City Classic