STORYLINES
•   The Western Oregon men's basketball team returns to action on Thursday evening hosting Central Washington at the New P.E. Building and The 109. The Wolves continue a GNAC homestand on Saturday with a 2 p.m. New Year's eve tipoff against Northwest Nazarene.
•   There were only two teams in which WOU split GNAC contests with during the 2015-16 season, with one being CWU. The Wildcats defeated WOU in Ellensburg right after last year's holiday break before the Wolves responded with a solid redemption win in Monmouth in January. Western Oregon had won three straight in the series prior to the road loss.
•   The Wolves enter Saturday's matchup with five straight wins over the Crusaders including a sweep last season. NNU's last victory against Western Oregon was an eight-point victory in January of 2014 in Nampa.
•   Live video and stats for both games will be available at WOUWolves.com/Live.
 
LAST TIME OUT
•   Western Oregon dropped their non-league finale, 81-72, at Azusa Pacific on December 16. A scheduled exhibition prior to the holidays against Douglas College was canceled.
• The Wolves were led by 17 points off the bench from Bryan Berg. His five makes from behind the 3-point arc accounted for over half of the team's total (9).
•   Ali Faruq-Bey had 11 points in 22 minutes and J.J. Chirnside had 10 points and five rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

ABOUT WESTERN OREGON
• Western Oregon is averaging 71.9 points per game on the season and has a scoring margin of -3.1 (altered by a 39-point loss to Oregon).
• The Wolves are shooting 40.5 percent from the field, including 33.0 percent from 3-point range.
• WOU is averaging 10.2 free throws a game and is shooting 65.0 percent from the stripe this season.
• Western Oregon is averaging 33.3 rebounds per game, but has faced a -6.7 rebound margin in 2016-17.
• Western Oregon is averaging 13.2 assists, 11.1 turnovers, 8.4 steals and 3.2 blocks per game.
• Ali Faruq-Bey (12.6) and Tanner Omlid (12.5) are the leading scorers for Western Oregon through 10 games. Omlid is also leading the team in rebounding (7.0 rpg), assists (4.2 apg), steals (3.4) and blocks (1.9).
• Seven players, in all, average 5.6 points or more a game.
• Head coach Jim Shaw is in his second season at Western Oregon. Shaw was the 2015-16 GNAC and NABC West Region Coach of the Year. His previous assistant coaching stops include Saint Mary's, Washington, Oklahoma, Portland, Montana State, Southern Utah, Oregon State, Chemeketa and Idaho State.
• New faces appear on Shaw's bench with the addition of Gage Aker, Zach Payne and Jalen James to the coaching staff. Josh Reber is the only assistant coach to carry over from the 2015-16 staff.
• Western Oregon was picked to finish sixth in the 2016-17 GNAC regular season title race by the league's coaches.
 
ABOUT CENTRAL WASHINGTON
• Central Washington is 6-2 on the season and is 1-1 in GNAC play.
• The Wildcats opened league play with a home split. They dropped a high-scoring game, 98-92, against Alaska Anchorage on Dec. 1 before holding off Alaska on Dec. 3 in a 79-76 win.
• Prior to the holiday, CWU easily handled Langara College, 100-63.
• The Wildcats are averaging 92.8 points per game while allowing 85.1 per contest.
• CWU is shooting 46.0 percent from the field and 38.8 percent from 3-point range as a team.
• CWU is averaging 17.0 made free throws per game and is shooting 79.1 percent from the free throw line.
• CWU is averaging 36.8 rebounds per game and has a -5.5 rebound margin on the year.
• The Wildcats are averaging 14.8 assists, 10.8 turnovers, 8.3 steals and 4.4 blocks per game.
• Dom Hunter is the GNAC's top scorer at 28.6 points per game shooting 48 percent from the field, 46 percent from behind the arc and 95 percent from the foul line. He has scored 30 points four times including in the last three straight.
• Naim Ladd (17.1) and Jawan Stapley (10.0) also average double figures for the Wildcats.
• Greg Sparling is in his 22nd season as CWU's head coach.
 
ABOUT NORTHWEST NAZARENE
• Northwest Nazarene is 4-4 on the season and is 1-1 in GNAC play. They will face Concordia on Thursday before the New Year's Eve game in Monmouth.
• The Crusaders also opened league play with a home split. Unlike CWU, NNU could not get past Alaska, falling to the Nanooks 81-72, but rebounded to knock off Alaska Anchorage 71-67.
• The Crusaders are averaging 76.4 points per game while allowing 71.6 per contest.
• NNU is shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 35.5 percent from 3-point range as a team.
• NNU is averaging 9.9 made free throws per game and is shooting 60.8 percent from the free throw line.
• NNU is averaging 35.4 rebounds per game and has a +0.5 rebound margin on the year.
• The Crusaders are averaging 14.8 assists, 14.5 turnovers, 7.0 steals and 2.5 blocks per game.
• Four players are averaging double figures for NNU – Maurice Jones (15.1), Bouna N'Diaye (14.3), Kaileb Rodriguez (13.8) and Jayden Bezzant (10.4).
• Scott Flemming is in his 2nd season as head coach at NNU.