The Basics

• Final Score: No. 4/2 Western Oregon 62, Northwest Nazarene 59
• Records: Western Oregon 17-2, 10-1; Northwest Nazarene 7-10, 3-8
• Wolves extended overall winning streak to eight games and home string to nine in a row.
• Coupled with Alaska Anchorage's loss at home to Saint Martin's Thursday, Western Oregon is alone in first place in the GNAC
• Location: Monmouth, Ore. – New P.E. Building

 
How It Happened
The fourth-ranked Wolves showed great energy and played solid team offense to build a 23-9 lead at the 10:38 mark of the first half. Other than 3-pointers from senior Jordan Wiley and sophomore Tanner Omlid, WOU scored all of their points inside the painted area in the rally.
 
Northwest Nazarene rallied with a 9-0 spurt to cut the lead down to three. Sophomore Alex Roth hit a short jumper pushing the advantage up to six before NNU hit a triple in the final minute to enter halftime down 32-29.
 
The Crusaders scored the first five points over the second half to take their first lead at 34-32. The teams traded the lead four times until a lay-up by Bouna N'Diaye gave NNU a five-point cushion at 51-46.
 
WOU responded with a 6-0 rally sparked by a jumper from senior Andy Avgi and the first points of the game from senior Julian Nichols courtesy of a lay-up and two charity shots.
 
The short make from Nichols at the 7:59 mark would be the last field goal of the night from Western Oregon. NNU's last field goal a minute later from Joel Devastey put the Crusader ahead for the last time 53-52.
 
Nichols would connect on seven consecutive foul shots to keep WOU ahead and two final makes with five seconds left from Wiley made the score 62-59. The Crusaders got the ball into the hands of Mike Wright, who previously hit four 3-point shots, but his long-distance attempt was deflected by Omlid to ensure victory for the Wolves.
 
 
Wolves' Top Performers

• Andy Avgi hit 8-of-16 shots from the field to lead three players in double figures with 18 points. He added eight rebounds, three assists, a block and a steal.
• Jordan Wiley became the third current Western Oregon player to surpass 1,000 points in his career with 12 points on Thursday. He joins Avgi and Devon Alexander in the 1,000-point club.
• Julian Nichols was only 1-of-12 from the field, but his 10-for-12 effort from the foul line allowed him to post 12 points (all in the 2^nd half). He also had five rebounds and three assists.
• Tanner Omlid was a beast on the glass and deflecting shots. Omlid had a career-high 13 rebounds (five on the offensive glass) and blocked five shots (the most in a game since Feb. 28, 2015 when Lewis Thomas had five against Alaska). He finished with seven points, three assists and three steals.

 
For the Crusaders

• Mike Wright had 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from behind the 3-point line.
• Bouna N'Diaye went 5-of-12 from the floor for 13 points and seven rebounds.
• Joel Devastey had seven points and team-high eight rebounds.

 
Stats of the Game

• The Wolves were held by solid NNU defense to 34.4 percent shooting (22-of-64) from the floor.
• Western Oregon had a season-low four turnovers.
• WOU had a 41-38 advantage on the glass, including 13 to seven on the offensive boards.
• The Wolves assisted on 10 of their 22 buckets.

 
Up Next
Western Oregon returns to action against Central Washington in the New P.E. Building on Saturday, Jan. 30. Game time is 4 p.m. Pacific.