No. 6/4Â Western Oregon (23-3, 16-2) vs. Concordia (7-18, 5-13)Game 27 | Feb. 23 | 7 p.m. PT | New P.E. Building | Monmouth, Ore. Series:Â Western Oregon leads 45-24
Last Meeting: Dec. 1, 2015 – Won, 92-59 in Portland
SENIOR DAYÂ
No. 6/4Â Western Oregon (23-3, 16-2) at Montana State Billings (10-16, 7-11)Game 28 | Feb. 25 | 7 p.m. MT | Alterowitz Gymnasium | Billings, Mont.Series:Â Western Oregon leads 11-10
Last Meeting: Dec. 5, 2015 – Won, 91-69 in Monmouth
LIVE STATS/VIDEO: WOU Portal |
NOTES: WOU – CU –
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STORYLINES- The Western Oregon men's basketball team enters the final week of the regular season with a split schedule. The Wolves will host Concordia on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m. on Senior Night. Following, a trip to Montana State Billings on Thursday, Feb. 25 will be the final game before postseason play. Tip time against MSUB is set for 7 p.m. Mountain (6 p.m. Pacific).
- Last time out: The Wolves saw their 13-game winning streak halted after Alaska led wire-to-wire last Thursday in an 87-78 loss. WOU was held to 25 first-half points. Despite scoring 53 points in the second half, the Wolves could not erase a 14-point halftime deficit. Tanner Omlid led the Wolves with 25 points and Julian Nichols added 16. Another low scoring first half (23 points) did not stall WOU in Anchorage, as the Wolves defeated UAA 64-58. Nichols was fantastic with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while Devon Alexander chipped in 14 points and six boards. Â
- WOU has won 14 of 15 games after a two-game skid late in December (at Oregon, at CWU).
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ABOUT WESTERN OREGON- The Wolves are the top-ranked team in the NABC Coaches Poll, the D2SIDA Media Poll and the official NCAA West Regional Rankings released Wednesday, Feb. 17.
- Andy Avgi leads the team in scoring at 21.0 points per game while shooting .550 from the floor. In 18 GNAC games, his scoring average is 21.5points per game.
- Western Oregon's balanced scoring attack, including Avgi, has six players average between 9.4 and 21.0 points per game. Avgi leads the Wolves in rebounding with 6.0 boards a contest with Tanner Omlid right behind at 5.7. Julian Nichols is second in the GNAC averaging 5.0 assists.
- Double-digit scoring streaks: Julian Nichols has scored 10 or more points in nine consecutive games, the current longest streak for WOU men's hoops. Tanner Omlid has posted five straight games in double figures.
- The Wolves taketh, but rarely giveth: WOU is the GNAC leader in turnover margin at +4.85 per game. WOU forces 13.8 turnovers per game, the third highest mark in the league. Individually, Julian Nichols tops the conference with a +3.4 assist/turnover ratio.
- Until two weeks ago, Devon Alexander had 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. In the Western Washington game at home, both Andy Avgi and Julina Nichols had double-doubles. Avgi had 34 points and 14 rebounds while Nichols had 17 points and 10 assists.
- 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 CONCORDIA- Head coach Brad Barbarick is in his 21st year at Concordia. He has led the Cavaliers to three NAIA Division II Tournament appearances, including the last two seasons.
- Concordia has dropped four of their last six games, including two losses last week in Alaska. They closed out their home schedule on Feb. 13 with a big 80-76 win over Western Washington.
- Concordia is led in scoring by four players in double figures: Drew Martin (15.2), Latrell Wilson (14.7), Tyler Gutierrez (11.1) and Riley Hawken (10.3).
- The Cavaliers are shooting .439 from the field, .338 from 3-point range and .660 from the foul line.
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ABOUT MONTANA STATE BILLINGS- Fith-year head coach Jamie Stevens is the first MSUB alumnus to be named head coach in program history.
- The Yellowjackets are 10-16 overall and sit in a tie for seventh-place in the GNAC with a 7-11 league mark. MSUB is still alive for the sixth spot in the GNAC Tournament, but need two wins and losses from Western Washington and Saint Martin's. Last week, MSUB clipped the Saints in Lacey, 84-80, before falling at Seattle Pacific on ROOT Sports on Saturday night, 93-67.
- Marc Matthews paces the Yellowjackets at 14.2 points per game. Second on the list is Jace Anderson at 14.1 ppg, but the guard hasn't played since injuring his knee against WWU on Jan. 2. Standout freshman Preston Beverly averages 112.7 points and a team-leading 6.7 rebounds a game.
- MSUB has the league's eight-best scoring offense at 74.0 points per game while shooting .421 from the field, .373 from behind the arc and .751 from the free-throw line.
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