MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon Wolves survived the Western Washington Vikings' attack on Saturday to win a 96-88 double overtime thriller at NPE Gym.

The double OT victory was the first time since the 2016-17 season the Wolves have been to overtime and their first OT win in nearly two years.

"I thought collectively the team showed a lot of resolve and heart," said Western Oregon head coach Jim Shaw. "I don't think we played extremely well, but we played very determined basketball."

Western Washington (6-2, 1-1) came out of the gates firing with the first six points of the game. Trevor Jasinsky converted back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Vikings a quick 6-0 lead.

Western Oregon (5-1, 2-0) retaliated with nine consecutive points to erase what would be the only lead of the first half for WWU.

Western Oregon led by just one, 25-24 with 3:40 left in the first half before going on a 10-2 run to take a nine-point advantage into the locker room.

The Wolves forced 13 turnovers in the first half for 19 points while giving up just two points off of turnovers. Without a scorer above six points, five separate players contributed at least five in the opening half for WOU.

The Vikings made adjustments in the locker room and came back for the second half on a tear. Going on a 21-7 run, WWU claimed their first lead in over 20 minutes of play on the back of a strong second half from Micah Winn. The junior guard was held scoreless in the first half, but ended up finishing the game with 23 points in 37 minutes of work.

Leading by seven with six minutes left, Western Oregon had a late lead slowly chipped away. Winn made a layup with just 14 seconds left in regulation to give WWU a 70-68 advantage. Darius Lubom was fouled on the ensuing possession to give him two shots at the line and a chance to tie. Lubom made both free throws to tie the game with seven seconds remaining. The Wolves were perfect on their first 15 free throws and finished 25-28 at the line while the Vikings struggled from the stripe, going 15-23 in regulation.

Tyler Payne attempted to run the length of the court for the game-winner, but Brandell Evans denied the shot as time expired to send the game to overtime. Evans finished with 14 points, five rebounds, three assists and a steal in 42 minutes. He was one of five Wolves to finish in double figures. All eight scorers for WOU finished with at least five points.

The Wolves led by as many as six in the first period of overtime, but could not hold the lead. Jasinsky was fouled with seven seconds left and proceeded to make three free throws to tie the game, forcing a second overtime. Jasinsky had a game-high 27 points along with six rebounds.

Western Washington led on multiple occasions in double overtime before the Wolves sealed the win. Jaylyn Richardson had multiple put-backs to extend the lead as a part of his career night. Richardson finished with a season-high 22 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block.

"This was a breakout game for Jaylyn," added Shaw. "He was all over the place and contributed some big buckets late."

With Richardson's team-high 22 points, Western Oregon has had a different leading scorer in all six of their games so far.

The Wolves' final six points all came at the free throw line, putting the game out of reach for WWU.

Western Oregon has now topped WWU in consecutive regular season games, dating back to the 2017-18 season. It is only the fourth time in the school's NCAA-era they have won back-to-back regular season games over the Vikings.

Next up for the Wolves is a non-conference meeting with Corban University. Tipoff Dec. 8 is set for 3 p.m. at NPE Gym.