The Basics

• Final Score: Western Oregon 84, Central Washington 70
• Records: Western Oregon 13-9, 10-4 GNAC; Seattle Pacific 9-13, 5-9 GNAC
• Wolves win fifth straight to pull within a game of the GNAC lead
• Location: Monmouth, Ore. – The 109 (New P.E. Building)

 
How It Happened
In front of nearly 100 men's basketball alumni and a nice crowd at the New P.E. Building, junior forward Tanner Omlid had the program's first triple double since 2003 with 18 points, 15 rebounds and a school-record 11 steals in Western Oregon's 84-70 victory over Seattle Pacific on Saturday night.
 
Omlid had his triple-double at the 10:45 mark of the second half stripping the ball away from SPU's Tony Miller. He fell three assists shy of the first quadruple-double in school and conference history.
 
Both teams held the lead early in the first half, but a 11-2 run in under two minutes bolstered a Western Oregon advantage from two to 11 points, 30-19. JJ Chirnside got fouled making a short bucket for a 3-point play while Omlid sprinted in front for a dunk after a steal. Demetrius Trammell completed a rare 4-point play hitting a wing triple and sinking the foul shot. Omlid converted another steal into a reverse dunk.
 
Trammell hit an open lay-in late in the half off an Omlid assist to take a 40-31 lead at the break after a three-quarter shot by SPU's Sharif Khan was waived off since it did not beat the buzzer.
 
Seattle Pacific trimmed the lead to five points twice in the second half. With 13:12 on the clock, Olivier-Paul Betu hit a lay-in but missed on his free throw. Western Oregon responded with a quick 7-1 run consisting of layups from Chirnside and Trammell, a 3-pointer from Omlid and another short make from Chirnside.
 
Omlid got into foul trouble with 9:30 left, but Western Oregon was able to extend the lead sparked by a late-shot clock 3-pointer from Akil Reese and a fast-break, behind-the-back layup from Ali Faruq-Bey.
 
Western Oregon held onto their double-digit advantage until the final buzzer.
 
Wolves' Top Performers

• Tanner Omlid posted the first triple-double for the Wolves since Dec. 16, 2003 when WOU Hall of Famer Robert Day had 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Montana State Billings.
• Omlid set a school and conference record with 11 steals. He bested the previous school record of nine set by Matt Jones in 1996-97. Omlid also took the league record away from Yusef Aziz of Seattle Pacific of nine set on Nov. 27, 2001.
• JJ Chirnside had a career-high 17 points making 6-of-9 shots overall and all five tries from the foul line.
• Ali Faruq-Bey also had 17 points while adding three boards, three assists and three steals.
• Demetrius Trammell notched his third consecutive game scoring in double figures with 11 points in 23 minutes.

 
For the Falcons

• Gavin Long had a career-best 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting in 39 minutes.
• Tony Miller had a double-double of 18 points and 12 rebounds.
• Coleman Wooten finished with 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.

 
Stats of the Game

• Thanks to 23 Seattle Pacific turnovers, Western Oregon feasted to a 22-4 advantage on fast break points.
• SPU was plus-five on the boards overall (40-35) including a 19-14 advantage on the offensive glass.
• The Wolves shot 50 percent (32-of-64) for the game and 15-of-20 from the foul line (75 percent).
• Western Oregon had 20 team steals, the most since posting 18 against Capilano University on Dec. 20, 2014.

Up Next
Western Oregon makes a trip north next week to face Western Washington on Thursday, Feb. 9 on 7 p.m. at Whatcom Pavilion in Bellingham and Simon Fraser on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. in Burnaby, B.C., Canada.