The Basics

• Final Score: Western Oregon 78, Western Washington 58
• Records: Western Oregon 14-2, 7-1; Western Washington 10-7, 4-4
• Win extended road winning streak to three games in conference action.
• Wolves led for 38:12 of the 40-minute game.
• WOU rebounded against the Vikings after WWU won the last meeting in the GNAC Tournament last March in Lacey, Wash.
• Location: Bellingham, Wash. – Whatcom CC Pavilion

How It Happened
Western Oregon opened the game on a 10-1 run, aided by 3-pointers from Andy Avgi and Jordan Wiley.
 
Western Washington tied the game at 18-18 with a pair of Kyle Impero free throws and took their only lead of the game with 1:53 left in the first half with a 5-0 rally.
 
Avgi hit two late free throws to put the Wolves ahead at the break, 34-33. WWU shot 50 percent in the first half with 12 made field goals while Western Oregon made 13 shots despite shooting 40.6 percent (13-of-32) in the same span.
 
WOU controlled the first five minutes of the second stanza, opening up a 47-35 lead after going on a 13-2 run capped off by a baseline two-handed dunk by Tanner Omlid. Julian Nichols, Wiley and Avgi all hit 3-point shots on the offensive side and the WOU defense held WWU to 1-of-6 shooting in the span.
 
The Vikings cut the lead down to nine, 58-49, with a Ricardo Maxwell lay-in. Western Oregon responded with a 10-0 run to push the lead back to 19 points. The cushion landed at 20 with two Wiley free throws in the final minute.
 
The contest was played on the campus of Whatcom Community College in Bellingham. WWU's Carver Gymnasium is in the process of a two-year renovation.
 
Wolves' Top Performers

• For the fourth consecutive game, Andy Avgi led all scorers with 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers. He pulled down six rebounds and had a blocked shot.
• Alex Roth once again matched his WOU career-best with 18 points hitting seven shots. He had five rebounds and two steals.
• Julian Nichols hit four shots from distance to post 15 points. His solid play included a game-high seven assists, five boards and two steals.
• Tanner Omlid and Jordan Wiley each had seven rebounds. Omlid and Devon Alexander chipped in nine points while Wiley chipped in eight points.

 
For the Vikings

• Ricardo Maxwell was 8-of-15 on the night to lead all WWU scorers with 17 points.
• Trey Drechsel had a nice game off the bench – 16 points, eight rebound and two steals.
• WWU's two leading scorers for the season, Jeffrey Parker and Kyle Impero, were held to 11 combined points. For the season, they have combined to average 35.9 points per game.

Stats of the Game

• The Wolves won the battle of the boards, 36-29 (9-7 on the offensive glass).
• WOU shot 57.7 percent in the second half (15-of-26) overall and 6-of-11 from downtown (54.5 percent) in out-scoring WWU, 44-25.
• The Wolves assisted on 15 of their 28 buckets.

 
Up Next
Western Oregon returns home to the New P.E. Building for four consecutive GNAC games. Beginning the two-week home stand will be a matchup against conference leading Alaska Anchorage (14-4, 7-0) on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. The game will follow the women's basketball contest against Central Washington.