FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Western Oregon University's No. 20-ranked men's basketball team closes out the regular season and heads into next week's Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Basketball Championships on a high note after earning a 75-60 victory over the University of Alaska Saturday inside the Patty Center.

"Good team effort tonight," said Head Coach Brady Bergeson. "All 11 guys on the bench made a positive impact. We had to dig deep to extend our lead and hold it."

Western Oregon (23-5, 15-3 GNAC), who captured its first-ever GNAC regular season title by two games in the final standings, had four starters scored in double figures led by junior Devon Alexander with 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field that included a 5-for-10 performance from beyond the three-point line. Along with Alexander, junior Andy Avgi, senior Lewis Thomas, and junior Julian Nichols also scored in double figures with 17, 12, and 10 points, respectively, while Thomas grabbed a game and season-high 15 rebounds en route to recording his third double-double of the season. Nichols handed out a game-high five assists for the Wolves, while Thomas, Nichols, and sophomore Connor Thompson tied for the team lead in steals with two each.

Alaska (7-19, 4-14 GNAC) concluded its season behind a game-high 27 points by Ashton Edwards on 10-of-18 shooting from the field that included 5-of-8 from long range, while Almir Hadzisehovic was the only other Nanook in double figures with 10 points. Hadzisehovic also led Alaska with six rebounds, while Alex Duncan added seven points and a team-high four assists.

A back-and-forth battle over the opening five minutes would result in a 10-9 lead for Western Oregon before the Wolves used a 13-5 run over a seven-minute stretch to push their lead to nine points (23-14) on a three-pointer by Alexander with 8:22 on the clock. Alaska would pull within four points (30-26) with 1:42 left before Western Oregon closed the first half on a 6-5 run resulting in a 36-31 lead for the Wolves at halftime.

The second half would remain a single-digit difference over the opening 10-plus minutes, as Alaska pulled within two points on multiple occasions only to see Western Oregon continue to hold the lead. At the 11:12 mark, the host Nanooks got within a single basket (49-47) before Western Oregon used an 11-0 run to pull in front by a score of 60-47 on another three-pointer by Alexander with 7:31 left in the game. Four minutes later, Western Oregon secured its largest lead of the game (73-57) on an old-fashion three-point play by Avgi before the Wolves settled for the 75-60 victory to propel WOU into the postseason on a winning note.

As a team, Western Oregon combined to shoot 34-for-67 (50.7%) from the field with the Wolves eclipsing the 50-percent mark in each half. WOU was also 5-of-20 (25.0%) from beyond the three-point line and 2-of-3 (66.7%) at the free throw line. On the other hand, Alaska was a combined 23-for-60 (38.3%) from the field, 8-of-20 (40.0%) from long distance, and 6-of-9 (66.7%) at the charity stripe.

Western Oregon won the "battle of the boards" pulling down 43 rebounds versus Alaska's 28, as the Wolves also had a higher producing bench (15-to-11) led by senior Adam Hastings' seven-point effort.

The Wolves will now move onto the GNAC Basketball Championships held next week (March 6-8) on the campus of Montana State University Billings, as Western Oregon will await the winner of the Alaska Anchorage-Western Washington quarterfinal game. WOU will play the second-of-two semifinal games on Friday, March 6, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (MT) inside Alterowitz Gymnasium in Billings, Montana.