MONMOUTH, Ore.—After a holiday hiatus, the No. 14-ranked Western Oregon (11-1, 3-1 GNAC) men's basketball team will open 2018 with a road match at Concordia on Jan. 2 before hosting Montana State Billings on Jan. 6.
WOLVES HOST YOUTH NIGHT: WOU athletics will be holding Youth Night for the basketball doubleheader on Jan. 6... Fans 12-years old and younger will receive free admission while the first 200 fans through the door will receive a free pair of WOU sunglasses… Doors open at New P.E. at 4:15 p.m with the women Western Washington at 5:15 p.m. and the men's team hosting Montana State Billings at 7:30 p.m.
WOU TICKETS: Single game tickets for WOU basketball games are $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and students... WOU students receive free entry to all regular-season WOU athletic events with a student ID... Contact the WOU box office at 503-838-8917 for information regarding season tickets >>>
Single Game Tickets
ABOUT CONCORDIA (4-8, 0-4 GNAC): The Cavaliers are averaging 73.9 points per game and allowing 80.6 points per contest for a -6.7 ppg scoring margin... CU has lost eight straight games after opening the season at 4-0... Junior guard Jarrett Gray leads the team and is ranked No. 4 in the GNAC at 17.8 points per game... Teammate Christopher Edward, a senior forward, is also in the top 10 in the conference scoring leaders with 15.9 ppg for No. 9 in the GNAC... Edward leads the league with 12.1 rebounds per contest with the next best average by UAA's Jacob Lampkin (9.7 rpg)... Senior forward Bryan Michaels adds 11.1 points per game from the bench... CU was picked to finish in ninth place in the GNAC standings in the league's preseason poll after going 14-14 overall last season.
ABOUT MSU BILLINGS (8-6, 0-3 GNAC): MSUB opened the season with five straight wins before dropping a 74-62 road game to open GNAC play at Alaska Anchorage on Nov. 30... The Yellowjackets went 1-2 in non-conference games in Hawaii over the holiday break with a 100-88 setback at Chaminade and a 73-71 loss to Hawaii Pacific closing out the trip... The Yellowjackets are averaging 81.5 points per game and have allowed 73.9 point per contest for a +7.6 scoring margin... MSUB is second in the GNAC behind WOU with a .404 shooting percentage from 3-point range and lead the conference by allowing just a .297 rate from beyond te arc defensively... MSUB has four players averaging at least 10 points per game with sophomore guard Tyler Green leading the way with 15.5 ppg but has played only eight games... Junior forward Zack Rollins (13.9 ppg), senior guard Kendall Denham (12.4 ppg) and junior guard Sven Jeuschede (11.5 ppg) are also averaging double digits in scoring... The 'Jackets were picked to place 10th in the GNAC preseason poll after compiling a 14-15 overall record a year ago.
ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (11-1, 3-1 GNAC): The Wolves were picked to place second in the GNAC in the preseason poll after a third-place result a year ago… The Wolves lead the GNAC by scoring 88.4 points per game and top the league with a +19.3 scoring margin... WOU holds the league's top field goal percentage (.522) and 3-point percentage (.418) but are ranked 10th at the free throw line (.644)… Six different players have led the team in scoring for a game this season with
Demetrius Trammell leading the way with four occurrences… Three players average at least 10 points per game with Trammell tops at 13.0 points per game and
Tanner Omlid (12.3 ppg) and Vince Boumann (11.6 ppg) close behind...
Ali Faruq-Bey (9.4 ppg) and
Riley Hawken (9.4 ppg) provide additional offense.
NCAA DII STATS RANKINGS: The Wolves are ranked in NCAA DII's top 20 in several team categories, including steals per game (9th, 10.3), scoring margin (4th, +19.3), field-goal percentage (4th, 52.2%), 3-pointers per game (17th, 11.3), scoring (18th, 88.6 ppg) and 3-point percentage (19th, 41.8%).
|
. |
|
NABC NCAA D-II RANKINGS |
|
Date |
Ranking |
Points |
|
12/26 |
#14 |
194 |
|
12/12 |
#16 |
150 |
|
12/5 |
#19 |
91 |
|
11/28 |
#13 |
216 |
|
11/21 |
#15 |
131 |
|
Pre. |
RV |
2 |
|
|
|
|
NCAA DII RANKINGS: With a sweep against the two Alaska schools to close out 2017, Western Oregon moved up two more positions in the latest NABC Division II rankings… The Wolves tallied 194 points to carry the GNAC's highest ranking for the fifth straight week… The Wolves are the lone team in the West Region represented in the top 25, though Cal Poly Pomona, Chico State, Cal Baptist and Cal State San Marcos all received votes towards the poll... WWU was ranked No. 22 in the preseason national poll as the only other GNAC program to enter the top 25 so far this season.
|
. |
|
D2SIDA WEST REGION RANKINGS |
|
Date |
WOU |
#1 |
#2 |
#3 |
|
12/11 |
#3 |
Poly Pomona |
Chico State |
Western Ore. |
|
12/4 |
#4 |
Poly Pomona |
Concordia (CA) |
Chico State |
|
11/27 |
#1 |
Western Ore. |
Cal Baptist |
Chico State |
|
11/20 |
#2 |
Cal Baptist |
Western Ore. |
Chico State |
|
11/13 |
#2 |
Cal Baptist |
Western Ore. |
Chico State |
|
Pre. |
#7 |
Cal Baptist |
Chico State |
Western Wash. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
OMLID RECORDS 5X5 GAME: Scoring 25 points and notching at least five rebounds, assists, steals and blocks,
Tanner Omlid led WOU to a 100-57 win over Portland Bible College on Dec. 7… Omlid ended the night with 11 rebounds, seven blocks, five steals and five assists... His block total eclipsed his previous career high of five set against Northwest Nazarene on Jan. 28, 2016… By comparison, only three NBA players—Hakeem Olajuwon, Derrick Coleman and Draymond Green—have ever scored at least 20 points and added 10 rebounds, five assists, five rebounds and five blocks in a single game... Olajuwon accomplished the feat on five occasions in his 17-year career.
OMLID, BOUMANN IN NCAA DII RANKINGS: Converting 75.3 percent of his field goal attempts, senior forward Vince Boumann is ranked No. 2 in the NCAA DII... Josh Morris of Texas A&M Permian Basin leads the NCAA DII with a 77.5 field goal percentage... Senior forward
Tanner Omlid is represented inside the NCAA DII individual top-10 statistical rankings in total steals, coming in at No. 7 in the nation with 30 swipes… Omlid is ranked 16th in the country with 2.50 steals per game and No. 26 with 2.17 blocks per game.
FAST STARTS: The Wolves' 7-0 record to start the season was the second best start of WOU's NCAA DII-era (since 2000) while also representing the fourth best start for the program since 1950… The 1981-82 team started the season with a school record 22 straight wins while the 2015-16 team holds the DII-era record with an 11-0 start.
GNAC TEAM OF THE WEEK: After traveling to Texas to defeat Tarleton State and returning to hand Alaska Anchorage its first conference loss, WOU was named the GNAC Team of the Week on Dec. 18... The Wolves limited Alaska Anchorage to 27.5 percent shooting from the field and 19 percent from three-point range.
DII SHOOTOUT RECAP: Hosting a four-team tournament for the second straight week, WOU moved to 4-0 on the season with a 99-87 win over Azusa Pacific followed by a 97-86 victory against Dixie State... WOU was the lone team to go 2-0 in the tournament with Eastern New Mexico the fourth team involved.
GNAC/PACWEST CHALLENGE RECAP: The Wolves escaped with a 70-69 win over Point Loma in the season opener and came back to trounce Fresno Pacific, 123-67, in the tournament finale… Six different players scored at least 10 points for the Wolves against FPU with
Demetrius Trammell notching a game-high 26 points after connecting on 8-of-9 from 3-point range.
PRESEASON GNAC POY: Returning as the Defensive Player of the Year, senior forward
Tanner Omlid was picked as the GNAC Preseason Player of the year… Omlid was a Second Team NABC All-West Region selection after averaging 15.6 points per game and recording a GNAC record 97 steals (3.21 steals per game).
FARUQ-BEY PRESEASON ALL-GNAC: Along with first team selection
Tanner Omlid,
Ali Faruq-Bey was also named to the All-GNAC Preseason team by the league's coaches… Faruq-Bey averaged 15.0 points and 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game last season while earning honorable mention All-GNAC honors.
2017-18 GNAC PRESEASON POLL: The Wolves were picked to place second in the league standings following returning champion Western Washington… WOU received three of the 11 first-place votes for 108 total points in the poll to WWU's 116… Central Washington received one first-place vote and 91 total points for third to edge Alaska Anchorage (90) by a single point.
2016-17 REVIEW: The Wolves went 18-13 overall last season and 13-7 for the conference slate… As the No. 3 seed, WOU defeated No. 6 MSUB, 72-61, in the opening round of the GNAC Tournament and then survived a triple overtime affair in the semifinals, defeating Alaska Anchorage, 91-84… Top-seeded Western Washington captured the title with a 71-69 win over the Wolves in the championship bout.
