Men's Basketball | 3/4/2014 12:12:00 PM
LACEY, Wash. – There's an old cliché in college basketball that if you're still playing March, anything can happen. The Western Oregon University men's basketball team hopes that saying rings true for them beginning at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference Championships Wednesday.
The Wolves (17-11, 10-8 Great Northwest Athletic Conference) open the postseason as the fifth-seed at the conference tournament against fourth-seeded Alaska Anchorage. On paper, the 'land' Wolves may appear to have a slim advantage, at least be equal, to the Seawolves (17-12, 10-8 GNAC). But, it's UAA that has dominated the series.
Alaska Anchorage is looking for its 10th straight victory over Western Oregon, dating to a 76-65 Wolves' win in Anchorage, on Jan. 23, 2010. The lone school WOU has yet to beat under
Brady Bergeson is UAA.
This season, the Seawolves were the only team in the conference to sweep Western Oregon. Alaska Anchorage dominated the season series winning the first meeting in Monmouth, 92-58, and the second matchup in Anchorage, 96-77. UAA made a combined 46 three-pointers in the two games, compared to the Wolves' 46 total made field goals. Alaska Anchorage connected on nearly 58 percent of its shots from behind the perimeter in the season series. The Seawolves dished out 52 assists in the pair of meetings as well.
Travis Thompson leads UAA scoring 21.5 points per game, which is second in the GNAC. Kyle Fossman is adding 16.7 points per outing. He totaled 59 points against WOU this season, including 40 in the second meeting behind 12 three-pointers. Thompson amassed 62 points versus the Wolves in 2013-14. Brian McGill, who is ninth in NCAA Div. II in total assists, threw a combined 19 against Western Oregon this season.
As a team, UAA leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.15). It first in the country averaging only 8.3 turnovers per contest, and is 10th with 18 assists per game. Alaska Anchorage is second in the country in three-point attempts (923) and first in made three-pointers (378). It is third with 13 made three-pointers per outing.
Western Oregon has found success on the defensive side of the ball this season. The Wolves are seventh in NCAA Div. II with a 259 total steal. Their 9.4 steals per game is 10th in the nation. Both stats lead the conference.
Devon Alexander leads the conference with 60 steals. His 2.2 steals per outing leads the GNAC.
Rodney Webster is fifth at 1.6.
Western Oregon enters the GNAC Championships for the third time in tournament's four-year history. It is 0-2 in the event, never advancing past the opening round. The Wolves qualified for the inaugural GNAC tournament in 2011, played at higher-seed sites, and in 2012 in Lacey. Western Oregon was the sixth-seed in 2011 and fell at third-seeded Seattle Pacific by four points. In 2012, fourth-seeded WOU fell victim in the first round to Montana State Billings', the fifth-seed, Cinderella run to the conference title. No current Wolves have played in the tournament before.
Alaska Anchorage has won four of its last five games, while the Wolves have won seven of their past nine. The 33rd meeting all-time between Western Oregon and UAA, the first in the postseason, tips off at 2:15 p.m. Wednesday. Live video and stats will be on WOUWolves.com. All five GNAC tournament games will be available for free viewing online. The games begin with the third-seed Alaska facing sixth-seeded Montana State Billings at noon Wednesday. The tournament is being held in the Marcus Pavilion on the campus of Saint Martin's University for the third straight season.
