Men's Basketball | 12/3/2013 3:31:00 PM

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WESTERN WASHINGTON GAME NOTES        SIMON FRASER GAME NOTES

MONMOUTH, Ore. -- The Western Oregon University men's basketball team opens its Great Northwest Athletic Conference schedule Thursday at No. 5 Western Washington University. The Wolves then travel to Simon Fraser University Saturday.

WESTERN OREGON OPENS GNAC SCHEDULE
• Western Oregon begins its 13th season in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Thursday at No. 5 Western Washington.
• The Wolves are 5-7 all-time in GNAC season-opening games.
• Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the Sam Carver Gymnasium. The game will be broadcast online on WOUWolves.com.

LAST TIME OUT
• Western Oregon won the 2013 Capital City Classic with a 75-60 victory over Corban University last Saturday.
• The Wolves were paced by the team's first double-double effort of the season by Marwan Sarhan. The junior had 17 points and 10 rebounds.
• Rodney Webster, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after scoring 16 points Saturday, and 15 against Willamette Wednesday.
• Western Oregon, which improved to 8-0 in the tournament all-time, limited Corban to 38 percent shooting from the field in the game.

WESTERN OREGON STORYLINES
• The Wolves' .424 field goal percentage defense leads the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
• Marwan Sarhan is looking for his seventh double-digit scoring performance in the first eight games of the season.
• Adam Hastings' .673 field goal percentage is third in the GNAC currently. The junior has made 33 of his 49 attempts from the field.
• Devon Alexander is third in the GNAC in steals per game with 2.0.
• Lewis Thomas' 1.6 blocks per outing in third in the conference.

THE OPPOSITION
• Perennial power Western Washington has reloaded this season. The Vikings climbed to No. 5 in this week's national poll from No. 7.
• The Vikings are coming off of a 72-69 victory over the previously top-ranked team in the country, Metro State, in Bellingham last Saturday.
• WWU has won 31 games in a row at home, dating back to an 83-73 Western Oregon win on Jan. 7, 2012.
• Austin Bragg was named the GNAC Player of the Week after recording 20 points, 13 rebounds and five blocked shots in the Metro State win.

SERIES HISTORY
• Western Oregon has won 16 of the 54 all-time meetings in the series.
• The series dates back to a 44-37 for then-named Washington State Normal School at Bellingham in 1937.
• The Vikings have won 17 of the 24 Great Northwest Athletic Conference meetings between the teams.
• Eleven of the last 16 meetings have been decided by 10 points or less.

WESTERN OREGON TRAVELS NORTH OF THE BORDER
• Western Oregon crosses into Canada for an annual matchup at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, B.C.
• The Wolves are in their opening weekend of the GNAC schedule.
• Tip-off is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. on the Simon Fraser campus. The game will be broadcast online on WOUWolves.com.

THE OPPOSITION
• Simon Fraser is off to a quick start, winning six of its first seven contests. This will be their seventh straight home game.
• The Clan has won five consecutive contests since falling at Cal State-Stanislaus, 85-72, on Nov. 9.
• SFU's +5.1 rebound margin leads the conference.
• Sango Niang lead the Clan with an average of 13 points per game.  His 5.9 assists per outing is second in the conference.
• Ibrahim Appiah has a team-high 6.6 rebounds per contests.

SERIES HISTORY
• Western Oregon has won 13 of the 23 all-time meetings in the series.
• The series dates back to a 97-86 SFU victory in Monmouth in 1968.
• The Wolves have won all six Great Northwest Athletic Conference meetings between the teams.
• WOU has won all four meetings under Bergeson against the Clan.

NEXT UP...
• Western Oregon faces another Canadian opponent in its lone game next week against Capilano University on Saturday in Monmouth.
• This will be the third time this season that the Wolves face an opponent for the first time ever.
• Men's basketball is one of eight varsity programs Capilano fields.
• Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the New P.E. Building. Fans can receive a dollar off admission with the donation of two non-perishable food items or a toy for the toys for tots drive.