No. 4/2 Western Oregon (16-2, 9-1) vs. Northwest Nazarene (7-9, 3-7)Game 19 | Jan. 28 | 7 p.m. PT | New P.E. Building | Monmouth, Ore. Series:Â Northwest Nazarene leads 31-27
Last Meeting: Jan. 2, 2016 – Won, 75-53 in Nampa
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No. 4/2 Western Oregon (16-2, 9-1) vs. Central Washington (11-4, 6-4)Game 20 | Jan. 30 | 4 p.m. PT | New P.E. Building | Monmouth, Ore.Series:Â Central Washington leads 44-13
Last Meeting: Dec. 31, 2015 – Lost, 81-77 in Ellensburg
LIVE STATS/VIDEO: WOU Portal |
NOTES: WOU – NNU -
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STORYLINES- Fourth-ranked Western Oregon hosts Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington this week to begin the second half of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. The Wolves tip against the Crusaders at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 28. Saturday's game against the Wildcats is set for a 4 p.m. tipoff during Men's Basketball Alumni Weekend.
- Last time out: Western Oregon jumped out to sizable leads and held off two good teams from the 49th state – defeating Alaska Anchorage on Jan. 21, 76-66, and Alaska, 64-59, on Jan. 23. Andi Avgi hit 13-of-21 shots from the field for 31 points and Jordan Wiley hit all eight free throws he took as part of his 17 points against the Seawolves. Julian Nichols flirted with a triple-double: nine points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Against the Nanooks, Avgi and Wiley each hit five shots from behind the 3-point arc for 24 and 17 points respectively, and each added eight rebounds. Nichols was the third man in double figures with 13 points.
- WOU has won seven straight games after a two-game skid late in December (at Oregon, at CWU).
- Western Oregon made another jump in the coaches' poll: moving up to No. 4 in the NABC Top 25 while jumping up to No. 2 (WOU's highest ranking) in the D2SIDA media poll.
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ABOUT WESTERN OREGON- Andy Avgi leads the team in scoring at 21.8 points per game while shooting .582 from the floor. In eight GNAC games, his scoring average is 23.3 points per game.
- Western Oregon's balanced scoring attack, including Avgi, has six players average between 8.8 and 21.8 points per game. Devon Alexander leads the Wolves in rebounding with 5.2 boards a contest while Tanner Omlid and Avgi are just behind at 5.1 rebounds each. Julian Nichols is fourth in the GNAC averaging 4.9 assists.
- Double-digit scoring streaks: Andy Avgi has scored 10 or more points in nine straight games. Jordan Wiley's string currently sits at two games and four of the last five overall.
- The Wolves taketh, but rarely giveth: WOU is the GNAC leader in turnover margin at +5.06 per game. WOU forces 15.0 turnovers per game, the second highest mark in the league. Individually, Julian Nichols tops the conference with a +3.7 assist/turnover ratio.
- Devon Alexander has both WOU double-doubles this season: 12 points/10 rebounds on Nov. 21 against Warner Pacific and 19 points/11 rebounds against Montana State Billings on Dec. 5.
- Head coach Jim Shaw is in his first season at WOU. His previous assistant coaching stops include Saint Mary's, Washington, Oklahoma, Portland, Montana State, Southern Utah, Oregon State, Chemeketa and Idaho State.
- Western Oregon was picked to finish second in the GNAC regular season title by the league's coaches receiving four of 11 possible first-place votes.
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ABOUT NORTHWEST NAZARENE- Head coach Scott Flemming is in his first year at Northwest Nazarene. Previously, he has coached at Nyack College and the India National Basketball Team.
- The Crusaders went 4-2 in nonconference play, but have lost 7 of 10 league games halfway thought the schedule. Last week, NNU outshot Western Washington, but a 21-4 disadvantage on the offensive glass led the Vikings to an 80-78 road win. The team bounced back with an 82-77 win over Simon Fraser.
- Northwest Nazaene is led by a quartet averaging double figures. Transfer Bouna N'Diaye (Barry) sits atop the scoring list at 15.6 points. He is followed by Mike Wright (14.3), Detwon Rogers (13.3) and Joel Devastey (10.4).
- NNU is shooting .435 from the field, .367 from 3-point range and .729 from the foul line.
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ABOUT CENTRAL WASHINGTON- Greg Sparling is in his 20th year at Central Washington and has won five conference championships in his tenure.
- The Wildcats are 11-4 overall and 6-4 in conference play. Last week, CWU defeated Simon Fraser, 82-69, before falling to Western Washington, 89-84, in a ROOT Sports television game last Saturday.
- Joseph Stroud is the CWU leading scorer (17.1 ppg) and is tied atop the rebounding list at 6.9 boards per game with Gary Jacobs (15.0 ppg). Three others are scoring in double figures for the Wildcats: Joey Roppo (12.1), Devin Matthews (11.5) and Naim Ladd (10.3).
- Central Washington has the second best scoring offense in the GNAC at 87.0 points per game while shooting .493 from the field, .390 from behind the arc and .709 from the free-throw line.
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