The Basics

• Final Score: Western Oregon 85, Central Washington 68
• Records: Western Oregon 11-9, 8-4 GNAC; Central Washington 12-6, 7-5 GNAC
• Wolves extended overall winning streak to three games and improve to 8-5 away from Monmouth
• WOU sits in third place alone in the GNAC men's basketball standings
• Location: Ellensburg, Wash. – Nicholson Pavilion

 
How It Happened
Junior guard Ali-Faruq Bey posted his second straight 20-plus point game propelling the Western Oregon men's basketball team to a convincing 85-68 victory at Central Washington on Saturday night, giving the Wolves their third consecutive victory and an 8-4 record in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play.
 
After trailing by five early, 14-9, Western Oregon connected on two successive shots and sank five free throws to go ahead 19-14 on a 10-0 run. WOU built up a seven-point lead on a 3-pointer from Demetrius Trammell and a jumper from Evan Garrison with 6:25 remaining before seeing the lead slowly dwindle down to one over the next five minutes.
 
WOU got a 3-ball from Malik Leaks and to Faruq-Bey free throws to close out the half on a 5-1 run and a 32-27 lead at the break.
 
In the opening five minutes of the second half, WOU hit seven of eight shots. As he had done to score the game's first points, Faruq-Bey opened the half with a 3-pointer. After missing his second triple try, Faruq-Bey got another open look following a JJ Chirnside offensive rebound and nailed the deep shot. Two charity shots fell before back-to-back 3-pointers from Faruq-Bey and Chirnside continued the rally. Garrison hit a lay-in while a steal led to a fast-break dunk from Akil Reese to push the WOU lead to 19, 52-33.
 
Three minutes later, five straight points from Chirnside ballooned the lead to 23, 59-36, with 13:05 left.
 
The Wolves continued to shoot well from the field and at the foul line while allowing Central Washington to get no closer than 13 points on a couple of occasions before coasting to a 17-point victory.
 
 
Wolves' Top Performers

• Ali Faruq-Bey scored 21 points to lead five WOU players in double figures on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor and 4-of-4 at the line. He had three rebounds, two assists and a steal.
• JJ Chirnside made three triples to finish with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
• Demetrius Trammell scored 12 points in 18 minutes off the bench.
• A duo had 10 points each - Tanner Omlid and Evan Garrison. Omlid had four rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Garrison led WOU with four assists while going 4-of-4 from the foul line.

 
For the Wildcats

• Fuquan Niles posted a double-double for the Wildcats with 12 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He had all three blocked shots for CWU.
• Dom Hunter was held to single digits for the first time this season, going 4-of-17 from the field for nine points.

 
Stats of the Game

• In a bit of déjà vu, WOU defeated Central Washington by a score of 85-68 for the second consecutive season. After falling at CWU last season, the Wolves returned the favor with an 85-68 win in Monmouth on Jan. 30, 2016.
• The Wolves shot 57.7 percent (15-of-26) in the second half, including 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) from 3-point land and 16-of-22 from the stripe to outscore the Wildcats 53-41 over the final 20 minutes.
• Western Oregon outscored CWU from the foul line by 20 points, going 24-of-31 for the night from the stripe.
• WOU got outrebounded by two overall (39-37) and 15-7 on the offensive glass.
• The Wolves assisted on 14 of their 23 buckets.

 
Up Next
Western Oregon will play the next two GNAC games at home beginning Thursday, Feb. 2 against Saint Martin's at 7 p.m. The weekend concludes with a 5 p.m. tip on Saturday, Feb. 4 against Seattle Pacific. Saturday's game will be televised on ROOT Sports Northwest, will be the annual Black Out, and is men's basketball Alumni Night.