Men's Basketball | 12/18/2013 9:08:00 PM

Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon University men's basketball team grabbed a 110-89 non-conference win over Northwest Indian College in the first ever meeting between the programs Wednesday.

Marwan Sarhan led six double-digit scorers for the Wolves (7-4, 1-1 Great Northwest Athletic Conference). The junior made all 10 of his shots from the field and finished with 22 points. WOU made 57.5 percent of its shots in the win, making 46-of-80.

Western Oregon last attempted 80 shots from the field in a 118-113 overtime victory at home over Central Washington last season. That was also the last time WOU scored 100 points. The Wolves reached triple digits for the 85th time in program history Wednesday. It was only the eighth time since 2000. WOU has won 78 of the times it has scored 100 points in a game.

Rodney Webster and Andy Avgi combined for 35 points. Lewis Thomas added 14 points, Devon Alexander had 12, and Adam Hastings scored 10. Alexander and Jordan Schriber led the Wolves with six rebounds. Webster matched a team season-high with six assists. Sarhan made three steals.

As a team, Western Oregon finished with a season-high 15 steals. The Wolves forced NWIC into 20 turnovers, which was a season-high for a WOU opponent. Western Oregon had 25 points off of the Eagles' turnovers. The Wolves dominated near the basket, outscoring Northwest Indian 82-54 inside the paint. WOU also had a 45-2 advantage in points off of the bench.

The teams combined for 25 points in the first three minutes of the game, with the visitors leading 15-10. A Mike Schjang Jr. lay-in two minutes later gave NWIC a 22-16 advantage. The Wolves made a 7-0 run, but Northwest Indian built its lead back to seven points. Joshua Nelson gave the Eagles a 34-27 lead, their largest of the game, midway through the first half with a jumper.

Western Oregon regained the lead, 42-41, with a lay-in from Thomas with 5:58 left in the opening half. The teams traded the lead, and NWIC had its last advantage in the game with 4:01 remaining in the first half, 49-48. WOU answered with a 12-3 run to take an eight point lead. The Wolves led 60-54 at halftime.

Western Oregon had its first double-digit early into the second half after a pair of Thomas free throws. The Wolves led 81-70 midway through the second half. A 9-0 WOU run over a two-minute span jumped the margin from 85-74 to 20 points. An Alexander jumper with 3:40 left in regulation gave Western Oregon its largest lead of the game, 109-82.

The Wolves outrebounded Northwest Indian, 43-31. WOU has won five of six when outrebounding its opponent this season. Western Oregon improved to 6-0 when it shoots 50 percent from the field, and 5-0 when it shoots better from the field than its opponent. NWIC finished 47 percent, after shooting 62.5 in the first half. The Wolves were 3-of-12 from the behind-the-arc, while Northwest Indian was 8-for-20. WOU made 15 of its 19 free throw attempts, and the Eagles were 19-for-23.

Nelson scored a game-high 31 points for the Eagles (9-10). He was 10-of-12 from the field in the first half, and finished 13-for-22. His 31 points are a season-high for a Western Oregon opponent this season. Schang Jr. added 20 points, five assists, and a game-high five steals. He made all eight of his free-throw attempts. Austin Miller had 19 points and Kacy Green totaled 13.

Western Oregon hosts South Dakota Mines (4-6) in its final non-conference game of the regular season Saturday. It will be the fifth opponent this season that WOU has faced for the first time in program history. The Hardrockers recently completed the transition from the NAIA to NCAA. They are an independent school in Div. II. Michael Dietz leads SDSMT averaging 13.8 points per outing. Caleb Shockman is adding 12.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4:15 p.m., following the WOU women's game against Simpson University. This will be the final time fans can watch Western Oregon Athletics in 2013, as both teams take a break for the holiday season. WOU faculty and staff are invited to the doubleheader for free. Local elementary school students and staff are also invited to the games for free. Fans will have a chance to meet Wolfie and a special guest from the North Pole at the games. An autograph session with the WOU women and men will follow the men's game inside the New P.E. Building gym.

Northwest Indian vs Western Oregon
12/18/13 7 p.m. at Monmouth, OR
At Monmouth, OR
WESTERN OREGON 110, NORTHWEST INDIAN 89
NORTHWEST INDIAN (9-10)
Nelson,Joshua 13-22 5-7 31; Schjang Jr.,Mike 5-16 8-8 20; Miller,Austin 7-12
1-2 19; Green,Kacy 4-8 3-4 13; Wynne,Drake 1-4 2-2 4; Sylvester,Sonny 1-3
0-0 2; Barry,Kyle 0-0 0-0 0; Mathias,James 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-66 19-23 89.
WESTERN OREGON (7-4, 1-1 GNAC)
Sarhan,Marwan 10-10 2-2 22; Webster,Rodney 8-11 1-2 18; Avgi,Andy 8-15 1-2
17; Thomas,Lewis 6-10 2-2 14; Alexander,Devon 5-9 1-2 12; Hastings,Adam 5-9
0-0 10; Sabic,Mirza 2-6 0-0 5; Holbrook,Eric 0-1 4-4 4; Wiley,Jordan 0-3 4-4
4; DupreeTurner,Dezmond 1-2 0-1 2; Schriber,Jordan 1-4 0-0 2;
Thompson,Connor 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 46-80 15-19 110.
Northwest Indian..............   54   35  -   89
Western Oregon................   60   50  -  110
3-point goals--Northwest Indian 8-20 (Miller,Austin 4-5; Schjang Jr.,Mike
2-5; Green,Kacy 2-4; Sylvester,Sonny 0-2; Wynne,Drake 0-3; Nelson,Joshua
0-1), Western Oregon 3-12 (Alexander,Devon 1-3; Webster,Rodney 1-1;
Sabic,Mirza 1-2; Wiley,Jordan 0-3; Schriber,Jordan 0-1; Thomas,Lewis 0-1;
Avgi,Andy 0-1). Fouled out--Northwest Indian-None, Western Oregon-None.
Rebounds--Northwest Indian 31 (Nelson,Joshua 9), Western Oregon 43
(Schriber,Jordan 6; Alexander,Devon 6). Assists--Northwest Indian 12
(Schjang Jr.,Mike 5), Western Oregon 13 (Webster,Rodney 6). Total
fouls--Northwest Indian 16, Western Oregon 24. Technical fouls--Northwest
Indian-TEAM, Western Oregon-None. A-121
First meeting between programs