Box Score MONMOUTH, Ore. – In a battle for first place in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, the Saint Martin's Saints edged out the Western Oregon Wolves 64-59 on Thursday night at NPE Gym to stay atop the heap.

Western Oregon (12-4, 5-2 GNAC) jumped out to an early lead, bursting out of the gates with an 8-0 run that included four points from Riley Hawken. Saint Martin's (13-2, 6-1 GNAC) responded by rattling off a 12-4 swing of their own to follow, tying the game at 12-12.

Both sides had trouble from three early on and for the Wolves that issue lasted the entire game. WOU shot 0-for-7 from 3-point range in the first half and 3-for-19 in the game for 15.8 percent from deep. It was Western's lowest shooting percentage from 3-point range this season.

WOU took a 32-27 lead into the locker room to utilize SMU's poor shooting first half. The Saints shot 37 percent from the floor and 21.4 percent from three. They were, however, able to force nine turnovers while committing just four of their own while doling out seven assists to the Wolves' two.

The Wolves seemed to control a majority of the game, leading for most of the first half and the beginning of the second half before SMU's series of 3-pointers gave them their first multi-possession lead of the game.

Tied at 48-48 with 9:13 left, Luke Chavez buried his first 3-pointer of the second half to give Saint Martin's their largest lead of the game at 51-48. On the following possession, Chavez missed his next attempt at three, but an offensive rebound gave him another chance from the top of the arc; one he would not miss. That extended the lead to six for SMU, a lead they would not surrender the rest of the game. The Saints led for just 9:48 of the entire game, but that included the final 7:21 of the second half.

Free throws would not fall for WOU on Thursday, hitting 14 in 25 attempts. They shot 40 percent at the line in the second half.

Western Oregon did take better care of the ball after the break, committing only four turnovers, but were unable to force more Saints mistakes. SMU finished the game with just seven turnovers.

Etan Collins recorded his first collegiate double-double, finishing with 13 points and 13 rebounds in 34 minutes. Five of those 13 rebounds were offensive, a game-high.

Hawken led all scorers with 14 points, hitting two of the three made 3-pointers for the Wolves.

Sophomore Darius Lubom fought through foul trouble for eight points, eight rebounds and three assists in 23 minutes of work. The eight rebounds was a new career-high for the sophomore.

Western Oregon pulled within one with 5:30 left in the game, but that is the closest they would be the rest of the way. A loose ball that rolled off the leg of a WOU player allowed SMU possession with the shot clock turned off to run out the clock for their third consecutive win.

The victory for the Saints is the first against Western Oregon since Jan. 18, 2014 when they won 79-73 in Monmouth. It snaps an 11-game win streak for the Wolves in the series.

The loss at NPE Gym was the first home regular season loss for Western Oregon since Jan. 14, 2017, and their first loss in Monmouth of any kind since the NCAA West Regional Tournament loss to Cal Baptist last March.

The Wolves will look to rebound in a meeting against Seattle Pacific Saturday, Jan. 19. Tipoff at NPE Gym is set for 5:15 p.m.