Men's Basketball | 12/31/2013 11:29:00 AM

MONMOUTH, Ore. – After a 10-day break, the Western Oregon University men's basketball team returns to the court with a pair of Great Northwest Athletic Conference games against No. 11 Seattle Pacific Thursday and Montana State Billings Saturday.

The Wolves (8-4, 1-1 GNAC) have no more non-conference games this regular season. Western Oregon has won six of its last seven, with the lone loss coming by one point at then-ranked No. 5 Western Washington. The Wolves' .434 field goal percentage defense is second in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, and second in steals per game at 9.3. The Wolves are 6-0 this season when they have a better field goal percentage than their opponent this season, and 7-0 when they shoot 50 percent of better.

After scoring four points in his debut, Marwan Sarhan has reached double digit scoring in each of the past 11 games. Four Wolves are averaging double-digit points per game, with one more adding 9.8 points. Adam Hastings' .654 field goal percentage is third in the GNAC currently. The junior has made 53 of his 81 attempts from the field.

In its last game, Western Oregon rallied for an 84-76 non-conference win over South Dakota Mines on Dec. 21. It was the fourth straight victory for WOU. Rodney Webster led the Wolves with 17 points. The senior was 6-of-14 from the field off of the bench. He was named the conference player of the week for his effort. He was one of five WOU players to finish with double-figures. Andy Avgi had the second double-double for the Wolves this season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Seattle Pacific (11-2, 2-0) entered the season as the preseason favorite to win the conference, and currently is atop the standings. The No. 11 Falcons have won four straight games by an average of 26.5 points. SPU's two losses were by a combined five points. It lost its one road game so far this season at Chico State, 73-70. David Downs is averaging 20 points and 4.8 assists per game.

Western Oregon and Seattle Pacific meet for the 52nd time. The series dates back to a WOU 67-58 win in 1949. The Falcons have won three straight in the series, including last season's two meetings, both by six points. Eight of the last 10 meetings have been decided by single digits.

Western Oregon hosts Montana State Billings (5-5, 1-1) in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference contest Saturday. Montana State Billings is heating up this season, as it has won four of its last six, after a 1-3 start. The Yellowjackets are 1-3 away from Billings so far this season. MSUB leads the conference in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 68.8 points per game. Kalob Hatcher is 10th in NCAA Div. II with 6.6 assists per game. Jonathan Mesghna leads one of three Yellowjackes averaging double-digits with 13.8 points per outing.

Western Oregon and MSU Billings meet for the 17th time. MSUB has won 10 of the 16 meetings in a series that is 15 years old. The Yellowjackets have won four straight in the series. The Wolves have won five of the seven all-time meetings in Monmouth, but just one of eight in Billings.

The WOU athletic department is admitting local public safety officials to the game for free Thursday, and local YMCA members Saturday. Thursday's tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. on the WOU campus, while Saturday begins at 2. Both games will be broadcast online on WOUWolves.com and WOUTV.