MONMOUTH, Ore. — After being dealt their first loss of the season, the Western Oregon Wolves return home to open Great Northwest Athletic Conference play this week. With two conference matchups on the slate, the Wolves will meet Simon Fraser Nov. 29 and No. 15 Western Washington Dec. 1. Both games are scheduled for a 7 p.m. tipoff at NPE Gym.

ABOUT SIMON FRASER (4-2): Simon Fraser opened the season with a tough trip to California for the CCAA/GNAC Challenge. After losing to UC San Diego and Cal State Dominguez Hills, the Clan have rattled off four straight wins, winning three of those games by at least 10 points. SFU are no strangers to hot starts. Last season the Clan won four in a row to open the year on their way to a 10-18 overall record.
 
Sophomore Julian Roche has delivered two double-doubles in the team's first six games, putting together an impressive 14 points and 13 rebounds, seven of which were offensive, Nov. 22 against Columbia Bible College. Preseason All-GNAC selection Michael Provenzano has dished out a team-high 4.5 assists per game while accounting for 9.7 points per game in his six starts. Drew Bryson has offered strong support off the bench for SFU, averaging 13.3 points per game – the team's third leading scorer.
 
WOU vs. SFU: This will be the second season the Wolves and Simon Fraser open GNAC play as opponents. Western won both meetings last season by 25. WOU is 15-1 overall against SFU, losing only Feb. 11, 2017 in a 68-63 squeaker on the road. It was one of just two conference wins that year for SFU when they finished 4-24 overall and 2-18 in conference play. The loss ended a streak of 13 straight wins for the Wolves over the Clan. They are 8-0 at home against SFU all-time.

This matchup will pit the two top defenses in the GNAC against each other. Western Oregon has allowed just 59.8 points per game for the top ranking while Simon Fraser is the only other team with a sub-70 ppg allowed mark at 67.3. The Clan additionally lead the GNAC in rebounding, averaging 41.3 boards per game. They handily hold the highest rebounding margin in the conference at +9.5.

ABOUT #15 WESTERN WASHINGTON (5-1): Fresh off their highest scoring game in five years, Western Washington looks for their fifth straight win. Their 129-55 victory over Langara College was the fourth-highest scoring game in school history and the highest point total since Dec. 14, 2013 when they dropped 140 points on Multnomah. It is also the second-highest made 3-pointers total for a single game in school history (17), helping the team to the seventh-highest scoring average in all of NCAA DII this season.

Junior Trevor Jasinsky has nearly doubled his scoring average through the first six games of the season. Averaging 19.5 points per game, he leads the Vikings' offense while maintaining a sharp 90.5% free throw percentage. He also leads the team in total rebounds, assists, 3-point attempts and blocks. WWU has spread their workload out to keep just two players above 30 minutes of work per game. Jasinsky along with fellow Preseason All-GNAC selection Siaan Rojas are both averaging 30+ minutes of work while just three total Vikings are averaging more than 25 minutes.

WOU vs. WWU: The all-time series has been a tough matchup for the Wolves, going 12-26 against the Vikings. Last year's 89-73 win at home broke a four-game losing streak to WWU. A win on Saturday would be the first consecutive regular season victories for the Wolves in the series since 2016 and only the fourth time overall. WWU is 6-3 over the last nine matchups and 9-9 all-time in Monmouth.

ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (3-1): The Wolves return home after splitting their two-game appearance at the Dixie State Classic. The 80-70 loss to Dixie State was their first of the season and the first time they have been bested by the Trailblazers since 2016. Dalven Brushier posted consecutive games scoring in double figures, scoring a season-high 16 points against DSU on Saturday on 5-of-6 from 3-point range. Brushier and senior Brandell Evans combined for 17 points at the stripe on Friday against Westminster College. The pair got to the line for 23 of the team's 27 free throw attempts in the game.

NATIONAL RANKS: The Wolves currently rank inside the NCAA DII top 10 in several team categories. These include: 3rd in TO margin (+8.3), 10th in scoring defense (59.8 ppg) and 9th in fewest turnovers (36). 

GNAC RANKS: In the conference, the Wolves rank 1st in scoring defense (59.8 ppg), field goal percentage defense (.382) and turnover margin (+8.3).

CONFERENCE OPENERS: Western Oregon has won four straight GNAC openers dating back to the 2014-15 season. Their last loss in their first conference game of the season came in a tight 67-66 loss to No. 5 Western Washington on Dec. 5, 2013 in Bellingham. The Wolves got their revenge with an 88-85 win in the regular season finale.

SPANISH TIES: Former Western Oregon standout Tanner Omlid and former Simon Fraser guard Kedar Salam are now professional teammates, playing for CB Moron of LEB Plata in Spain.  

BENCH PRODUCTION: The WOU bench has produced at least 22 points in each of their first four games including two 35-point performances. The Wolves' leading scorer has been a reserve in two of the first four games.

DEFENSIVE DOMINANCE: The 35 points scored by Colorado Christian Nov. 17 in WOU's 64-35 win was the fewest allowed in a game by the Wolves since Walla Walla's 29-point performance on Dec. 10, 2011.

TURNOVER MARGINS: The Wolves are 3rd NCAA DII with a +8.3 TO margin. Including two exhibition games this season, WOU has forced at least 16 turnovers in all but one game they have played.
 
SOUZA PERFECT FROM THE FIELD: Buster Souza tied his career-high with 14 points off the bench Nov. 17 in a 64-35 win over Colorado Christian. Souza led all scorers 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.
 
HAWKEN PRESASON 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.