ANCHORAGE, Alaska—Generating a decisive edge in total shots thanks to forceful action on the offensive glass and forcing turnovers on the defense end, the No. 6-ranked Western Oregon University men's basketball team captured its 13th straight win be defeating Alaska Anchorage, 72-62, inside the Alaska Airlines Arena on Saturday.

With the win, Western Oregon improved to 19-1 on the season and took sole possession of first place in the GNAC standings with an 11-1 record in conference play.

Capped by a Tanner Omlid 3-pointer, the Wolves made six of their first seven attempts to generate a 16-5 lead. Despite only connecting on six field goals in the first half the Alaska Anchorage (9-11, 5-7 GNAC) managed to stay close (23-18) with four minutes left in the first half, but back-to-back low-post buckets by Vince Boumann to end the half allowed the visitors a 12-point lead (31-19) at the break. 

With two more 3-pointer by Omlid, WOU's lead swelled to 20 points in the early stages of the second half before an extended run by UAA made things interesting in the final minutes.

Trailing 54-34, UAA went on a 22-7 spurt to make it a two-possession contest. From there, Boumann converted a pair of clutch free throws while Al Faruq-Bey sent in a streak-halting 3-pointer at the 4:44 mark.In addition to a 14-to-6 edge in offensive rebounds, WOU forced 13 turnovers compared to committing nine such miscues. In all, WOU generated 63 shot attempts to only 42 for the opposition.
Omlid

led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting while Faruq-Bey finished with 12. Boumann and Riley Hawken added nine points each. Drew Peterson paced UAA with 15 points.

WOU will turn around and play on Tuesday, Jan. 30 when the team hosts Concordia University. Opening tip against the Cavaliers is set for 7 p.m. inside the New P.E. Gymnasium.