Written by Matt Rawlings, Sports Information Intern

MONMOUTH, Ore. – Senior Adam Hastings led the way for Western Oregon University's nationally-ranked men's basketball team with career-high tying 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field, as the Wolves used a hot-shooting night to earn a 94-74 victory against Montana State University Billings in Great Northwest Conference (GNAC) play inside the New PE Building on Thursday night.

"(Tonight's win) was good," said Head Coach Brady Bergeson. "We did a really nice job of taking care of the ball. We found a lot of open hands, and it always makes you look better when you make shots. I thought we did a good job of staying disciplined with a big lead. Sometimes, we can get sloppy, and we didn't do that tonight."

Western Oregon (17-3, 9-1 GNAC), who extended their overall winning streak to seven games and picked up their 10th straight victory at home, was also led by senior Lewis Thomas with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and junior Andy Avgi also added 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Junior Devon Alexander was also in double figures with 10 points and junior Julian Nichols added a game-high 11 assists to go along with seven points and four rebounds in the victory. Freshman JJ Chirnside grabbed a team-best five rebounds for Western Oregon in a reserve role.

"We really believe in each other here," added Bergeson. "Everyone is willing to make extra passes, and when a guy gets going a little bit, we've got a collective mindset to make sure the ball finds his hands. We had a lot of guys in the rhythm tonight, and I think that was a testament really to our ball movement. The ball touched a lot of guys' hands—guys who don't do it every single night like they did. It's really fun to see guys like Adam and Lewis that really got going early as well as a number of guys. It was fun."

Montana State Billings (4-14, 2-6 GNAC) was led by Antoine Hosley, who had a game-high 23 points coming off the bench for the Yellowjackets. Emmanuel Johnson also came off the bench to score in double figures with 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go along with a game-high six rebounds for MSUB.

After MSU Billings started out the game on an 8-2 run that included a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, Thomas scored seven straight points for the Wolves that included a deep three-point bucket, to give the Wolves the early lead (9-8) with 17:02 on the clock. When the Wolves found themselves down by four (19-15) with 13:52 left in the first half, they proceeded to go on 14-0 run thanks to the offensive spark by Hastings off the bench. Hastings scored seven straight points, including two tough buckets in the paint, which gave the Wolves a 10-point lead (29-19) with just over 10 minutes remaining in the first half. After MSU Billings cut the lead to six (33-27) with 7:55 remaining in the first half, the Wolves proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to stretch their lead out to 16 (43-27) highlighted by a fast-break dunk by Hastings off a beautiful feed from Nichols. The Wolves were able to keep that 16-point lead in tact going into the half (51-35).

The Wolves continued to extend their lead in the second half. After a three-point play from Nichols and back-to-back mid-range jumpers by Avgi and Lewis, the Wolves jumped out to a 21-point lead (60-39) to start the second half. After a three-point bucket by Hastings followed by a floater by Nichols, the Wolves stretched their lead out to a game-high 30 points (77-47) with 10:23 remaining. MSU Billings made the score a little more respectable in garbage time, but the Wolves were still able to pullout the victory in dominant fashion.

As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 40-for-64 (62.5%) from the field, including shooting 7-for-15 (46.7%) from behind the arc and 7-of-12 (58.3%) from the free throw line. MSU Billings, on the other hand, was a combined 30-for-62 (48.4%) from the field that included 23-for-55 (41.8%) from the floor after starting the game 7-for-7 over the opening seven minutes. The Yellowjackets were also a combined 7-for-18 (38.9%) from behind the three-point line and 7-for-12 (58.3%) at the free throw line.

Western Oregon returns to the hardwood on Saturday, January 31, against the Falcons of Seattle Pacific University beginning at 7 p.m. inside the New PE Building in Monmouth.

When asked about facing SPU, Thomas said, "We just have to carry on and keep playing well. We're on a good run right now, but now it's time to focus for Seattle."