MONMOUTH, Ore. – For the second straight game, Western Oregon University's men's basketball team used a run late in the second half to help propel itself to victory as the Wolves scored seven of the final 10 points en route to earning a 78-74 Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over Central Washington University Saturday inside the New PE Building.

"You have to be pleased with tonight's victory," said Head Coach Brady Bergeson. "This was a back and forth game between two really balanced teams. The bottom line is it was a one possession game back and forth, and we made more plays in the last four minutes of the game."

Western Oregon (13-3, 5-1 GNAC) pushed its home winning streak to eight games behind a game-high 23 points by junior Andy Avgi on 9-of-14 shooting from the field, while senior Marwan Sarhan and junior Jordan Wiley also scored in double figures with 10 points each. On the boards, senior Lewis Thomas grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds to go along with a game-high six assists by junior Julian Nichols. The combo of Thomas and Nichols combined to register all four of the Wolves' steals, as each player tallied a game-high tying two steals each.

Central Washington (8-4, 3-2 GNAC) had three players score in double figures led by Joseph Stroud with 17 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting from the field, while Terry Dawn and Dom Williams added 12 and 11 points, respectively. Stroud and Jordan Russell led the Wildcats with five rebounds each, while Devin Matthews handed out a team-best five assists for CWU.

The game would begin with both teams battling to a 10-10 tie after the opening five-and-a-half minutes, as Central Washington broke the game's fourth deadlock via an 8-1 run over a span of one minute and 34 seconds en route to earning an 18-11 lead on a lay-in by Dawn with just under 13 minutes on the clock. Over the next two minutes, Western Oregon used a 10-2 run to pull ahead 21-20 with 10:40 left on a three-pointer by junior Dezmond Dupree-Turner that capped three straight baskets from long distance by the Wolves. Neither team would grab more than a one-point lead over the next three minutes, as Central Washington broke a 28-28 tie with a three-pointer that sparked a 10-2 run by the Wildcats over a four-minute stretch that put CWU ahead 38-30 with 3:33 left. Western Oregon would score the final seven points to close out the first half, as the Wolves pulled within a single point (38-37) at halftime.

Western Oregon began the second half with a baseline jumper from Avgi to pull ahead 39-38, as neither team secured more than a four-point lead over the opening five minutes. The Wolves would earn a 52-48 lead on a jumper by Sarhan with 14:51 left before Central Washington scored six unanswered points to pull ahead 54-52 with 14:20 remaining. Back-to-back free throws by Sarhan 39 seconds later would tie the game for the 10th time, as neither team pulled ahead by more than a basket over the next 12 minutes.

With Western Oregon trailing by two points (71-69) with 2:13 left, Avgi scored back-to-back buckets to put the Wolves ahead 73-71 with 1:17 left. Central Washington would have an answer in the form of a Russell lay-in 16 seconds later than tied the game for the 17th and final time at 73-73. Avgi would hit back-to-back free throws 21 seconds later that gave WOU a slim 75-73 lead, as CWU's Matthews would miss the front end of his two free throws with under 20 seconds left giving Western Oregon a 75-74 lead late in the game. On the ensuing in-bounds pass, Nichols was fouled and headed to the foul line with a chance to put Western Oregon ahead by three points. The GNAC's leading free throw shooter percentage-wise would hit both free throws to put WOU ahead 77-74. With a chance to tie the game for the 18th time, CWU's Williams missed a three-pointer from the top of the key that fell into the awaiting arms of Nichols for his second rebound of the night as the Wildcats fouled him again to send him back to the line. Nichols would hit one-of-two at the line with 2.1 seconds left to ice the victory for the Wolves, as Western Oregon earned its third straight win via a hard-fought 78-74 victory.

When asked what the keys were to winning the game, Bergeson said, "We had a lot of guys step up in different patches. The quiet difference, to me, was there was a stretch of eight or ten minutes in the middle of the second half where we really dominated the boards. It didn't show up on the scoreboard immediately, but we would have been down six or eight or nine points had we not done that, and we were at a plus ten at some point on the boards during that stretch. That allowed us to stay within striking distance. Between that and our detail and execution in the last four minutes, that's what did it."

Overall, Western Oregon won the battle of the boards pulling down eight more rebounds (31-to-24) than Central Washington that included a 10-to-4 difference in offensive rebounds that resulted in 13 second chance points for the Wolves.

As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 24-for-54 (44.4%) from the field that included a 6-of-15 (40.0%) performance from beyond the three-point line and a 24-for-30 (80.0%) showing at the free throw line. On the other hand, Central Washington was a combined 28-for-54 (51.9%) from the field that included a 14-for-25 (56.0%) clip in the first half. The Wildcats were also a combined 8-of-19 (42.1%) from long distance and 10-of-15 (66.7%) at the charity stripe.

Western Oregon returns to the hardwood on Saturday, January 17, when the Wolves host GNAC rival Saint Martin's University beginning at 7 p.m. inside the New PE Building in Monmouth.

Bergeson was asked about his mid-season evaluation of the team and stated, "We are who we are, and we're battling. We're a mentally tough group who is focused on getting better every week, and we're very focused on our goals, and we're bought in. It's a fun group to coach. I think we can continue to get better and better as the year goes on. I still don't think we're playing our best basketball, and I hope I'm right."