LACEY, Wash. – Tournament MVP Devon Alexander had 16 points and 10 rebounds while Alex Roth hit all four 3-pointers he attempted, helping No. 6 Western Oregon shoot its way past Alaska 78-71 on Saturday night to win their first-ever Great Northwest Athletic Conference tournament title.
 
Western Oregon (27-3), the regular-season champion, clinched the title by putting on an offensive show in the second half against one of the hottest teams in the league heading into the postseason.
 
After being stymied to 11-of-29 shooting in the first half, the Wolves connected on 16-of-26 shots (61.5 percent) in the second half, eight of them coming from the 3-point arc, to outscore Alaska (22-8) by 10 points.
 
Senior guard Jordan Wiley had 16 points for Western Oregon. Roth added 14 points off the bench while GNAC Player of the Year Andy Avgi had 10 of his 12 points after the halftime intermission.
 
Trevante Williams finished with 23 points and four rebounds for Alaska. Bangaly Kaba added 19 points and six rebounds for the Nanooks, who have to endure a wait until Selection Sunday to hear their NCAA Tournament fate.
 
The Nanooks were one of two teams in the Division II ranks to beat WOU during the regular season, knocking them from the NABC/D2SIDA top-spot two weeks ago.
 
Alaska used a fast start to build a 6-0 lead that ballooned to their largest margin of seven points, 13-6, after a Williams 3-point make and a driving layup from Brandon Davis.
 
Wiley responded with a triple to give the Wolves a 26-25 lead at the 4:52-mark, the first of 17 lead changes in the game. The deep shot connected on two straight Alaska possessions before Alexander connected on a 3-pointer and a jump shot to bring the game to a 31-31 stalemate.
 
Kaba's long shot late in the period put the Nanooks in the lead at the break, 34-31.
 
The teams traded leads in the opening 15 minutes of the second half. A pair of Roth 3-pointers gave the Wolves slim leads before the final tie came with 4:39 on the clock following two Kaba charity shots. Western Oregon turned to Avgi, Julian Nichols and Roth during a 7-0 run that took just 2:07 to swing the momentum of the game. The senior forward muscled his way down the lane for the go-ahead bucket on lay-up, Nichols netted two free throws and Roth hit a big triple after Alaska missed a long shot for a 69-62 lead.
 
Joe Slocum would not let Alaska go quietly hitting three tough shots from distance, but Alexander had replies with a pair of 3-balls. Wiley and Nichols iced the game away with free throws.
 
In earning the GNAC's automatic bid into the NCAA West Regional, the Wolves will now wait until 7:30 p.m. on Sunday when the Division II field of 64 is unveiled on NCAA.org. Western Oregon will learn their first round opponent and the location of the tournament set to begin on Friday, March 11.