MONMOUTH, Ore. — The Western Oregon men's basketball team swept their split week, handling Concordia 91-65 at home before taking care of MSUB 81-65 on the road. With a long weekend of rest, the Wolves now take on two regionally ranked opponents at home, facing No. 15 Saint Martin's at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 and hosting Seattle Pacific Jan. 19 at 5:15 p.m. Both games will be played as doubleheaders, the first twin bill the men's and women's basketball teams have had this season.

ABOUT NO. 15 SAINT MARTIN'S (12-2, 5-1 GNAC): The Saints entered the season picked to win the GNAC in the conference's preseason poll and they have done just about everything right this season to live up to that expectation. Their two losses have come to teams who have held national rankings at some point this year; No. 13 UC San Diego and Western Washington who opened the season ranked 15th.

Their 75-68 loss to the Vikings Jan. 5 ended an eight-game winning streak. They have rebounded with two wins, but both have come by seven or fewer points.

SMU boasts the second-best scoring defense in the conference, allowing just 71.1 points per game and trailing only WOU in the category. They also sit second in the GNAC in scoring margin (+10.6), 3-point percentage (.393) and first in steals (8.7 per game).

The Saints feature GNAC Preseason Player of the Year, Luke Chavez. Averaging 12.3 points per game, Chavez is part of an offense that has five players averaging at least 10 points per game.

WOU vs. SMU: WOU is 28-11 against Saint Martin's since 2001. Western Oregon has won 11 straight meetings dating back to Feb. 15, 2014. Saint Martin's last win in the series was a 79-73 win in Monmouth Jan. 18, 2014. WOU is 16-4 at home.

ABOUT SEATTLE PACIFIC (8-3, 5-1 GNAC): Sitting in a four-way tie for first place in the GNAC, Seattle Pacific has won six straight after losing their first conference game of the season to Northwest Nazarene Nov. 29 at home. All three of their losses have come by fewer than 10 points to give them the third-best scoring margin in the conference. Major wins early on in the Falcons' season include victories over Western Washington (86-72) and Alaska Anchorage (87-74).

SPU is one of two teams in the GNAC shooting above 50 percent from the field this season, converting 330 of 654 shots for a .505 percentage. That shooting percentage is 13th in all of NCAA DII. They also hold the highest rebounding margin of any GNAC team at +5.7, allowing the fewest opponent rebounds to boot.

The Falcons currently rank 8th in the D2SIDA West Region Poll, sitting one spot behind the Wolves.
 
WOU vs. SPU: Western Oregon is 17-23 against Seattle Pacific since 2001. The Wolves have won nine straight meetings dating back to Jan. 31, 2015. Seattle Pacific's last win in the series was an 83-76 victory Jan. 1, 2015 in Seattle. Their last win in Monmouth was Feb. 23, 2013, 82-76. WOU is 9-9 at home in the series.

ABOUT WESTERN OREGON (12-3, 5-1 GNAC): The Wolves currently sit in a four-way tie for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, even with Saint Martin's, Northwest Nazarene and Seattle Pacific at 5-1 GNAC records. WOU suffered their only GNAC loss when they fell just short in a 61-57 loss at Alaska Anchorage Jan 3. Since then, they have won three consecutive games, all by at least 16 points.

In their most recent week of play, WOU topped Concordia 91-65 at home before a standalone road meeting with MSUB where they bested the Yellowjackets 81-65.

The Wolves have allowed 65 or fewer points in four of their last five games, helping lower their already conference-best scoring defense.

Dalven Brushier scored a combined 31 points last week, including 19 points at MSUB on 8-of-13 shooting.

Kaleb Warner was within four rebounds of a double-double in both games, finishing each contest in double figures in scoring.

NATIONAL RANKS: The Wolves are currently 3rd in TO margin (+7.2), 7th in scoring margin (+16.7) and 13th in assist/turnover ratio (1.55) in NCAA DII.

GNAC RANKS: In the conference, the Wolves rank 1st in scoring defense (64.1 ppg), scoring margin (+16.7), field goal percentage defense (.408), 3-point percentage defense (.307), assist/turnover ratio (1.5) and turnover margin (+7.2).

UN-THREE-LIEVABLE: WOU's 91-65 win over Concordia Jan. 8 was the second time this season they found themselves stamping the program's record books for 3-pointers. Making 14 team 3-pointers in the game, it was the 9th-highest single-game total in the school's NCAA-era history as well as 4th-highest percentage from three (.636). Riley Hawken's 6-for-7 night from deep tied for the 4th-best single-game 3-point percentage as well.

CONVINCING WINS: 10 of the 12 wins this season for WOU have come by at least 11 points. This includes four wins of at least 22.

RECORD-SETTING NIGHT: Western Oregon's 129-33 win over Portland Bible College Dec. 29 set several GNAC records including largest margin of victory, lowest field goal percentage defense (18.8) and fewest field goals allowed (9). The 96-point win topped the previous conference record by 11 points, set in 2008 by Central Washington. The 129 points was the most by WOU in their NCAA-era and just the third time they have topped 120 points in a game.
 
BAKER'S ALMOST DOZEN: O'landa Baker doled out 11 assists Dec. 29 for a season-high. It was the third-most assists by a WOU player in NCAA-era history and the most since 2015. He accounted for over one-third of the team's 31 assists, coming just three shy of tying the school record for assists in a game. Baker also set himself season-highs in minutes, points, 3-point field goals made, rebounds and steals in that game.
 
DEFENSIVE HAWK: Junior Riley Hawken has led the Wolves or tied for the team lead in rebounds in 10 of the last 13 games. He is also currently second in the GNAC with 2.0 steals per game.

LEADING SCORERS: WOU has had nine different leading scorers in their 15 games. By class, the Wolves have been led by two freshman, one sophomore, three juniors and three seniors.

SHARING THE LOAD: Five separate Wolves are averaging seven or more points per game while nine players are averaging more than five points per game.

MAKE YOUR FREE THROWS: WOU went 25-28 at the line Dec. 1 against Western Washington. It was the most free throws made in a game by the Wolves since March 23, 2016 when they went 28-for-31 at the stripe in an 81-68 win over Saginaw Valley State in the 2016 Elite Eight.

BENCH PRODUCTION: The WOU bench has produced at least 15 points in 14 of their first 15 games including seven games of at least 30 points. The WOU bench scored 65 points Dec. 29 vs. Portland Bible College. WOU's leading scorer has been a reserve four times this season.

TURNOVER MARGINS: The Wolves are 3rd in NCAA DII with a +7.2 TO margin. Including two exhibition games this season, WOU has forced at least 13 turnovers in all but two games – both losses — they have played.

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. It was then bested a little over a month later when Western Oregon allowed just 33 points to Portland Bible College in a 129-33 win.
 
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.
 
CONFERENCE OPENERS: Western Oregon has won five 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 later that year with an 88-85 win in the regular season finale.

SPANISH GNAC 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.  

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.

D2 WEST REGION POLL: Western Oregon maintained a No. 7 ranking while picking up a season-high 29 points in the D2SIDA West Region Poll on Jan. 14. The Wolves were one of four GNAC teams in the poll and the third-highest ranked squad behind No. 2 Saint Martin's and No.4 Northwest Nazarene. With a 13-2 record, Point Loma held the top spot in the poll after running their current winning streak to nine consecutive games. Point Loma's two losses this season have both come to ranked opponents. 

  

D2SIDA West Region Poll (Jan. 14, 2019)
Rank / School	Record	Points
1. Point Loma (5)	13-2	59
T2. Saint Martin's (1)	12-2	51
T2. UC San Diego	14-3	51
4. Northwest Nazarene	10-2	38
5. Chaminade	13-2	35
6. Cal State East Bay	13-3	30
7. Western Oregon	12-3	29
8. Seattle Pacific	8-3	15
9. Humboldt State	13-5	9
10. Concordia (Calif.)	11-6	8
WOU in D2SIDA West Region Poll
Date	Rank	Points
Nov. 12	7th	21
Nov. 19	9th	14
Nov. 26	T-10th	8
Dec. 3	7th	27
Dec. 10	7th	25
Dec. 20	6th	23
Jan. 7	7th	26
Jan. 14	7th	29