MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon Wolves shut down the Colorado Christian Cougars offense Saturday night for a 64-35 win at NPE Gym.

Colorado Christian (1-3) briefly held a lead inside the first four minutes of the game after a pair of made free throws by Jake Hornick.

Western Oregon (2-0) again focused heavily on creating turnovers which kept the Cougars' offense at bay for much of the game. WOU finished with 20 forced turnovers while committing just five of their own. Darius Lubom had four of the team's nine steals along with 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.

"We gave a great effort tonight on defense," said Western Oregon head coach Jim Shaw. "Creating that many turnovers and upsetting their rhythm was a big part of the game."

The Wolves went on a 9-0 run into the locker room, getting eight straight points from Buster Souza in the closing minutes of the first half, to take a 36-21 lead at the break.

Souza led all scorers with 14 points off the bench in 14 minutes of play. The senior forward was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field while also pulling in four rebounds and two assists. It was only the third time in the school's NCAA-era history that a player has been perfect from the field on seven or more shots.

Bryan Berg added in another 13 points off the bench and was 3-for-6 on 3-pointers.

That WOU run continued into the second half and stretched out to a 21-2 rally that lasted 10 minutes. The Wolves led by 31 on several occasions and never trailed in the second half.

Western Oregon got 35 points from the bench led by Berg and Souza as well as at least 10 minutes of play from every reserve.

"Ball security was good tonight," added Shaw on the nominal five turnovers committed. "When you only give up the ball five times, the team is taking good care of it. I do want to see improvements in shooting given how well we handled it."

The defensive performance was one of the best in recent memory. The 35 points allowed was the lowest opponent total since Walla Walla scored just 29 points Dec. 10, 2011.

Next up for Western Oregon is the Dixie State Classic, a four-team tournament in St. George, Utah. The Wolves will take on Westminster College in the first of their two games in the tournament Nov. 23 with tipoff set for 4 p.m. PST.