MONMOUTH, Ore —Utilizing a big night from their bench, the Western Oregon Wolves pulled away from the Alaska Nanooks, 94-78 on Thursday at NPE Gym.  

Less than four weeks after their previous meeting, Western Oregon (15-5, 8-3 GNAC) and Alaska (4-14, 1-10 GNAC) duked it out Thursday for the final time during the regular season.

Both teams started cold from the field, going a combined 4-for-13 for 10 points in the opening five minutes of the game before a drastic change in offensive output. Over the final 15 minutes of the first half both teams put on a 3-point shooting display to sink a combined 15 3-pointers.

The Wolves went into the locker room having made 9-of-16 threes for 56.3 percent while the Nanooks hit 6-of-7 from deep. Six separate Wolves hit a 3-pointer in the first half and eight WOU players connected for one in the game.

Dalven Brushier was 3-of-3 on 3-pointers in the first half on his way to a season-high scoring night. The junior finished with 22 points, three rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of work.

The Wolves held a 41-30 lead with 1:24 left in the first half before UAF began a 10-0 run that lasted through the break. WOU took a 41-35 advantage into the second half.

After four early lead changes, Western Oregon led for the remainder of the game, but were challenged several times throughout the night by the Alaska offense led by Spencer Sweet.

Sweet scored a game-high 25 points on Thursday on 7-of-12 shooting. This was complimented by the seven rebounds and two assists for the junior. He has scored a combined 45 points this season in two games against WOU.

Coming out of the break, UAF quickly closed the gap to 41-40, but were never able to pull in front in the second half. WOU stretched that lead back out to a dozen within minutes of the one-possession differential.

Western Oregon's lead was down to just two, after being as high as 12, with 9:02 left in the game before they made their final push. They outscored the Nanooks 28-14 over those final nine minutes to claim their seventh straight win over Alaska.

The WOU bench scored 49 points in the game, the second-highest bench total for the team this season. Jaylyn Richardson and Darius Lubom led the reserve offense, combining for 51 minutes of work. Richardson posted 18 points and five rebounds while Lubom finished with 16 points, eight assists and two boards.

Junior Riley Hawken played all but five minutes of the game, contributing 16 points and four rebounds.

Next up for the Wolves is a home meeting with Alaska Anchorage Saturday. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. Feb. 2 at NPE Gym.