STORYLINES
•   Western Oregon heads out for its first-weekend road trip in league play at Seattle Pacific on Thursday (Jan. 5) and Saint Martin's on Saturday (Jan. 7). Both games tip off at 7:30 p.m.
•   The Wolves earned season sweeps over both the Falcons and the Saints in 2015-16. By a combined nine points, WOU defeated Seattle Pacific in overtime (96-90) at home, again in extra time at Royal Brougham (84-82), and by a single-point (58-57) in a classic GNAC Championship semifinal game last March. The three victories helped the Wolves narrow the all-time series margin to 19 wins and 40 losses. Against the Saints, two victories last year made the all-time series 34-29 in favor of WOU. Western Oregon has won five consecutive over the Saints.
•   Both games will have coverage on WOUWolves.com/Live with video and stats.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Wolves played three solid halves of basketball last weekend in hosting Central Washington and Northwest Nazarene, but it will be the final half against the Crusaders that kept WOU from claiming a pair of GNAC wins. Ali Faruq-Bey (22) and Demetrius Trammell (21) led four players in double figures as WOU got past Central Washington, 98-77, on Dec. 29. Tanner Omlid added a double-double (18 pts., 11 reb.) as the team shot 54 percent for the game. 

A hot offense continued into the first half of last Saturday's game against SMU with five 3-pointers. Malik Leaks hit a long shot at the halftime buzzer to cruise into the break with a 40-20 lead. The Wolves went cold in the final 20 minutes, shooting just 16 percent from the floor. NNU went on a rally and completed the comeback with a 64-59 win. Omlid had his second consecutive double-double (23/11) and Trammell had 11 off the bench.

OUTSTANDING OMLID
Tanner Omlid ranks in the GNAC top 10 in five statistical categories entering the week. The junior forward is the league leader in steals (3.3), third in blocks (1.9), fifth in assist/turnover ratio ( 2.6), sixth in assists (3.8) and seventh in rebounds (7.7). His 13.8 points per game (17th in GNAC) has been helped by two consecutive double-doubles. He matched his season-high with 23 points against Northwest Nazarene.

GUARDS TRANSFER IN
Four guards joined the WOU roster this year and have played integral roles for the Wolves. Ali Faruq-Bey (Idaho State) brings a high offensive energy that has paced the team in scoring in five games this year, including a season-high 22 points against Central Washington. Two former Tigard High School and Clark College products, Bryan Berg and Evan Garrison, have seen quality playing time and made numerous starts. Berg is one of the league's top 3-point shooters, averaging 1.8 made per game. Garrison has been the starting point guard in the three games (four, counting the Portland Bible exhibition). Demetrius Trammell (Yakima Valley) is ranked in the top 10 in both 3-point field goal percentage (43.5 percent, 6th) and shots made (2.3, 8th).  

HIGH MARKS
- Through games played Dec. 29, Western Oregon ranked first in the GNAC in steals (9.0) and third in turnover margin ( 4.33).
- With a 98-77 win over Central Washington on Dec. 29, the Wolves set a single-game scoring mark under head coach Jim Shaw. Previously, the 96-point overtime effort against Seattle Pacific (Jan. 7, 2016) was the team's highest scoring effort. 
- The Wolves shot 54.7 percent against Central Washington (35-64), the highest mark by any WOU team since Jan. 30 also against the Wildcats (57.9 percent, 33-57).

REIGNING CHAMPS, PRESEASON DOUBTS
Last season's GNAC regular season and tournament champions, Western Oregon entered 2016-17 picked to finish sixth in the league. The Wolves lost four-fifths of their starting lineup and return just one player (Omlid) who averaged more than 10 minutes a game. 

ABOUT SEATTLE PACIFIC FALCONS
In his first season as Seattle Pacific's head coach, Grant Leep is no stranger to battles with WOU after spending seven years as the lead assistant for former coach Ryan Looney. The Falcons are 6-6 for the year and 2-2 in the GNAC. This year, Coleman Wooten has averaged a team-leading 16.7 points and 9.2 rebounds a game (GNAC 7th scoring, 2nd rebounding), while Tony Miller (16.6) and Joe Rasmussen (13.5) also average double figures in scoring. WOU has gone 1-4 at Seattle Pacific over the past five seasons.

ABOUT SAINT MARTIN'S SAINTS
Saint Martin's enters this week with a 6-4 overall record, having split games in Alaska last weekend (87-71 at Alaska, 49-55 at Alaska Anchorage). Senior guard Tyler Copp scored 25 points in the win over Alaska and leads four SMU players averaging double figures at 18.8 points per game. Trey Ingram is shooting 48 percent from 3-point land. Rhett Baerlocher (6.6) and Jordan Kitchen (6.4) lead the Saints on the boards. Saint Martin's is under the direction of second-year head coach Alex Pribble.