Men's Basketball | 11/6/2013 11:38:00 PM

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University men's basketball team travels to Hawaii for its regular season-opening games against Chaminade University (Hawaii) and Hawaii-Hilo. The Wolves meet the teams in the GNAC/PacWest Challenge on Friday and Saturday.

Western Oregon heads to Honolulu after an exhibition victory over Linfield College, 70-64. The Wolves were led by Andy Avgi's game-high 24 points. The sophomore made 10 of his 12 shots from the field, and grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. Eric Holbrook chipped in 11 points off of the bench. Devon Alexander dished out three assists, made three steals, and also had seven rebounds.

Western Oregon made 40 percent of its shots from the field. The Wolves were held to 3-of-17 from behind-the-arc, and made 17 of their 24 free throws. WOU committed eight turnovers and had nine assists as a team.  Western Oregon had a slim 35-33 advantage in rebounds, but outscored the Wildcats, 30-10, in the paint. The Wolves forced Linfield into 14 turnovers.

Chaminade enters the year after going 19-11 last season. The Silverswords were ranked seventh in the NCAA Div. II West Region, and finished in the regional tournament. Lee Bailey is the leading returning scorer. The junior averaged 11.1 points per game last season, while dishing out a team-high 102 assists. Rhys Murphy also returns after averaging 9.4 points and 3.8 rebounds a contest. They are the two returning starters from a team that defeated the University of Texas in 2012-13.

The Silverswords, who are also playing their regular season opener, welcome a trio of NCAA Div. I transfers this year. AJ Mathew played the previous two seasons at the University of Toledo, Frankie Eteuati played at Cal State-Northridge, and Christophe Varidel joins the team after excelling at Florida Gulf Coast. Varidel was a key player off of the bench during FGCU's underdog run through the NCAA Tournament last year. Derric Braziel was the second-leading scorer in NJCAA Div. II last season at Johnston (NC) Community College.

This will be the 10th meeting between the programs all-time. Chaminade has won seven of the meetings, including an 84-76 win in Monmouth last season. WOU found itself trailing throughout much of the contest as the Wolves were down 40-33 at the half. Chaminade extended the lead to nine early in the second half; however, the Wolves responded and eventually took a 70-69 lead with 4:05 remaining. The Silverswords answered with the next six points, capped on a layup by Dominique Cooks, as Chaminade would not trail the rest of the way en route to an eight-point win.

Saturday, Western Oregon and Hawaii-Hilo meet for the 12th time. The Vulcans hold a slim 6-5 advantage over WOU. The Wolves fell in last year's season-opener to UHH, 89-80. Western Oregon led by 10 points at halftime, but could not hold on for the win.

New head coach, GE Coleman has brought in eight recruits to join six returnees to bolster a team which went 6-19 overall and 4-13 in the PacWest Conference last year. Brandon Thomas returns after averaging 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in 2012-13.

Friday's game against Chaminade will have live audio and stats on WOUWolves.com. That game is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. Hawaiian Time tipoff, while Saturday's game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. Hawaiian Time.