MONMOUTH, Ore.— After a two-game exhibition schedule, Western Oregon opens their regular season at home with two non-conference opponents in Warner Pacific and Colorado Christian.
ABOUT WARNER PACIFIC (3-1): The Knights are fresh off their first loss of the season, 75-66 to No. 22 (NAIA) Carroll College. In all three of their victories Warner Pacific has won by double-digits, out-scoring opponents this season 300-270. It is the fifth time the Wolves and Knights have played since WOU's move to the NCAA with WOU leading the series 3-1. Two of the four matchups have been decided by fewer than five points with their last meeting on Nov. 21, 2015 turning into an 87-68 Western Oregon win. Senior forward Collin Malcolm has already recorded 10 blocks and 9 steals this season for WPU while averaging a team-best 8.0 rebounds and 18.8 points per game through four starts. Ranked No. 23 in the NAIA Men's Basketball Preseason Poll, this will be an exhibition match for the Knights.
ABOUT COLORADO CHRISTIAN (0-2): The Cougars come into the week still in search of their first win of the 2018-19 season. After three exhibition losses and two regular season losses at home, Colorado Christian makes its first official road trip of the year with games on consecutive days in Monmouth. The Cougars took No. 21 Dallas Baptist to the wire in their last matchup, falling 86-85 on the road Nov. 10 in Austin, Texas. CCU has four players averaging over 10 points per game through their first two official matchups and have shot nearly 50% from the field as a team (.496). The second half has been a favorable one so far where the Cougars are scoring 87 points to just the 65 points totaled in the first half. The Wolves won the only previous meeting with CCU, 62-54 Nov. 22, 2014 in Monmouth.
ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (0-0): The Wolves went 1-1 in their two-game exhibition schedule, topping Pacific Lutheran 106-48 Nov. 10 for their lone win. They were picked to finish third in the GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason Poll behind Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific. Western Oregon returns one starter this season, junior forward
Riley Hawken who was unanimously named to the GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team. The Wolves also return sophomore
Darius Lubom and seniors
Brandell Evans,
Bryan Berg,
Kaleb Warner and
Buster Souza.
HAWKEN PRESEASON ALL-GNAC: Junior
Riley Hawken was the only Western Oregon player selected to the GNAC Men's Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team, named a unanimous selection for the 2018-19 season. Hawken is one of six juniors on the team of 15 with the remainder being seniors. Hawken is the lone returning starter off of Western Oregon's GNAC championship team. He averaged 8.2 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while shooting 79.5 percent from the free throw line and averaging 1.6 assists per contest during the Wolves' historic season.
2018-19 GNAC PRESEASON POLL: The Wolves were picked to place third in the league standings following Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific… WOU received two of the 11 first-place votes for 94 total points in the poll to SMU's 118 and SPU's 105… the Wolves were the only team outside of the Saint's to receive a first-place vote and held an 11-point buffer over fourth-place Western Washington.
2017-18 REVIEW: The Wolves went 31-2 overall last season and 19-1 in conference… They cruised to both a regular season and conference tournament title with their only regular season slip coming in the second game of conference play against Western Washington. After the loss to the Vikings, the Wolves rattled off a school-record 24 consecutive wins while setting a Great Northwest Athletic Conference record for wins. WOU returned to the West Regional Championship game for the second time in three years, falling to Cal Baptist, 80-76.
Tanner Omlid pulled in several postseason accolades, being named the GNAC Player of the Year, D2CCA West Region Player of the Year, D2CCA and NABC All-American and NABC DII All-District Team.
