MONMOUTH, Ore. – Western Oregon University's men's basketball team held the University of Alaska Fairbanks without a field goal over the game's final seven-plus minutes en route to erasing a nine-point deficit, as the Wolves opened Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) play with a 67-62 come-from-behind victory Thursday inside the New PE Building.

Alaska (2-4, 0-1 GNAC) took a 62-53 lead with 7:26 remaining in the game on a lay-in by Almir Hadzisehovic before Western Oregon (6-2, 1-0 GNAC) scored the final 14 points, as the Wolves' defense held the Nanooks to 0-for-8 from the field and forced a pair of turnovers en route to earning their fifth straight win.

"It was an ugly performance," said Head Coach Brady Bergeson. "I think we learned some hard lessons. I'm glad it didn't come at the expense of a loss. We played ugly until the last four or five minutes, and I thought our guys rose to the challenge at that point in time and showed the gritty toughness that we have grown to expect."

WOU was led offensively by junior Andy Avgi with a season-high 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting from the field, while fellow junior Jordan Wiley provided 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field that included a 5-for-6 showing from long range. Senior Lewis Thomas nearly registered his first career triple-double falling one point, one rebound, and one assist shy with nine points, a game-high tying nine rebounds, and a game-high nine assists. Senior Marwan Sarhan provided four points off the Wolves' bench, while junior Devon Alexander chipped in with four points and a game-high tying nine rebounds.

Alaska was led offensively by Ashton Edwards with 19 points that included a 4-for-9 performance from beyond the three-point line, while Hadzisehovic and Alex Duncan chipped in with 14 and 11 points, respectively. On the boards, Kyle Tomlinson and Ruben Silvas grabbed a team-high five rebounds each for the Nanooks to go along with a three-assist nights by Tomlinson and Edwards.

In the opening two minutes, Alaska jumped out to a 6-3 lead before Western Oregon used a 5-0 run with all five points coming from Thomas en route to earning an 8-6 lead with 16:08 on the clock. The Nanooks would use a 14-3 run over the next four-plus minutes resulting in a 20-11 lead on the three-pointer by Duncan with 11:47 left. Alaska would continue to hold the lead for the remainder of the first half, as the Nanooks pushed their advantage to as much as 10 points (35-25) on a free throw by Edwards with 3:28 remaining. At halftime, Alaska settled for a 37-27 lead resulting in the largest deficit for Western Oregon at intermission.

The second half began with Western Oregon using a 13-2 run over a span of three-plus minutes, as the Wolves earned their first lead (40-39) since the 15:15 mark of the first half on a pair of free throws by Avgi with 16:42 on the clock. Over the next nine minutes, Alaska used a 23-13 run to pull ahead by nine points (62-53) on Hadzisehovic's aforementioned lay-in with 7:26 left. That would be the final points that the Nanooks would score, as Western Oregon turn around a six-point deficit (62-57) in the game's final five minutes for its sixth victory of the season and second win this year after trailing in the game's final five minutes.

"It was a frustrating game," commented Bergeson. "You had to give Fairbanks a lot of credit. They did a really good job of making things hard for us. They took us out of our rhythm. I didn't think we responded particularly well. I thought we were searching, and I thought it was a frustrating type of game, but again, I give them a lot of credit for that. Being down is nothing we haven't been through before. It's not an enjoyable experience, but I like the way our guys fought through, battled, and found a way."

As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 25-for-59 (42.4%) from the field that included a 7-for-24 (29.2%) performance from beyond the three-point line to go along with a 10-for-13 (76.9%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, Alaska was a combined 26-for-57 (45.6%) from the field that included a 15-for-26 (57.7%) clip in the first half. The Nanooks were also 8-for-23 (34.8%) from long distance and 2-for-4 (50.0%) at the charity stripe.

Western Oregon returns to the hardwood on Saturday, December 6, against the University of Alaska-Anchorage beginning at 2 p.m. inside the New PE Building.