The Basics

• Final Score: No. 8/4 Western Oregon 76, Alaska Anchorage 66
• Records: Western Oregon 15-2, 8-1; Alaska Anchorage 15-5, 8-1
• WOU pulls into a first-place tie with UAA in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.
• Win extended overall winning streak to six games and home string to seven in a row.
• WOU handed UAA their first conference loss and snapped their nine-game winning streak dating back to Dec. 3, 2015.
• Location: Monmouth, Ore. – New P.E. Building

How It Happened
The first half was controlled by the Western Oregon defense holding the Seawolves to 28.6 percent (8-of-28) shooting in building as big as a 14-point lead. After a Spencer Svajcar 3-pointer capped off an early 5-0 run for UAA, the Wolves went on a 13-4 run to post a 18-9 advantage. The final eight points of the spurt came on a triple by Tanner Omlid, an Andy Avgi layup and 3-pointer by Jordan Wiley.
 
Another long distance shot from Wiley gave the Wolves a 33-19 lead with 2:11 left in the half, but two layups from UAA's Brian McGill cut the Western Oregon lead to 33-23 at halftime.
 
WOU held its double-digit advantage until the 12-minute mark and saw their lead evaporate into a 55-55 tie on a Suki Wiggs 3-pointer. He followed up with a layup to give UAA a 60-57 lead. Devon Alexander began an 8-0 run with a tying triple. Omlid's layup with 4:06 remaining gave WOU the lead. The game seemed destined to become tied again after McGill drove to the basket unguarded, but he missed the shot and an Avgi pushed the lead to five, 65-60, with a critical 3-pointer.
 
Free throws down the stretch swayed in WOU's favor as Wiley hit all six attempts in the final 33 seconds to seal the home victory.
 
Wolves' Top Performers

• Andy Avgi posted his second 30-point game of the year with 31 points on 13-of-21 shooting and 4-of-4 from the foul line. He added three rebounds, three assists, four blocks and two steals.
• Jordan Wiley had nine of his 17 points in the second half. He finished the night a perfect 8-of-8 from the foul line and pulled down three rebounds.
• Julian Nichols filled up the stat sheet: nine points, a career-high tying 12 rebounds, seven assists and one steal in 34 minutes.  
• Devon Alexander had nine points, six rebounds and three assists.
• Tanner Omlid made his third start of the year. He finished with seven points and four rebounds

 
For the Seawolves

• Suki Wiggs, the GNAC's leading scorer entering the game, exploded for 22 points in the second half to finish with 26 points for the game.
• Brian McGill had 17 points and five rebounds off the bench.
• Defending GNAC Player of the Week Spencer Svejcar added 16 points
• The trio of Wiggs, McGill and Svejcar accounted for 59 of the 66 total UAA points.

Stats of the Game

• The Wolves shot 46.6 percent from the field (27-of-58), 8-of-20 from downtown (40 percent) and 14-of-17 from the line (82.4 percent).
• Alaska Anchorage was 16-of-16 from the foul line, the first time the Seawolves posted 100 percent in a single game.
• WOU lead for 35:22 of the 40-minute game.
• The Wolves assisted on 16 of their 27 buckets.

 
Up Next
Western Oregon hosts GNAC third-place Alaska on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the New P.E. Building. The Nanooks are 7-2 in the league after defeating Concordia on Thursday night, 99-76.