SAN FRANCISCO – The Western Oregon men's basketball team pulled off their fifth straight win to start the 2019-20 season on Saturday, edging out a 75-72 victory over the Stanislaus State Warriors in their final game of the Gator Gobble.

The game played just as tightly as the final score would indicate with neither side leading by more than seven and Western Oregon (5-0) not holding a lead larger than five.

The Wolves again kept their field goal shooting sharp, hitting 50 percent of their shots for the fourth straight game. They would need every one as WOU took 22 less shots than Stanislaus State (5-2, 1-1 CCAA).

"Going into this game, we anticipated it being a scrappy game and knew the tougher team would come out on top," said junior guard Darius Lubom. "Tonight, our freshmen grew as they were able to come in and hold their weight and then some. As a team we emphasize being 'together' and tonight we won together."

Lubom finished with a team-high 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He also approached triple-double numbers, collecting seven assists and six rebounds in 36 minutes. In a season-first, Lubom was the only Western player to record more than 30 minutes of play, seeing both Dalven Brushier and Jaylyn Richardson face foul trouble and, as a result, limited time.

Saturday's game featured 10 ties and 19 lead changes and saw the Warriors take a two-point lead into halftime, leading 38-36.

Stanislaus State got a game-high 27 points from Xavier Francois who also had eight rebounds, two steals and a block. All but one Warriors starter scored at least 11, getting only four points out of their bench.

Western trailed by seven with 8:50 left to play in the game before making a late run. That deficit disappeared within a minute as the Wolves scored the next eight points of the game, relying on five of those points coming from Lubom. After taking a lead at 61-60, they did not trail again in the game, but did have their advantage at just one point with seven seconds left to play. Lubom hit two crucial free throws to put the game in hand and solidify the win.

"We came in expecting a very physical game from a well-coached team and that's exactly what it was," said Western Oregon head coach Wes Pifer. "I felt like our guys battled and we made enough toughness plays and free throws down the stretch to come out on top. 5-0 is great, but our locker room knows we are far from a finished product and there's a lot of work to be done headed into conference play next week."

Cameron Cranston scored 11 points in 23 minutes in the start, picking up four rebounds and three assists. Brushier matched Cranston in scoring, posting three rebounds as well.

All four of Western's bench players recorded points in the game, totaling 15 for the reserves.

Next up, Western Oregon opens Great Northwest Athletic Conference play Thursday, Dec. 5, when they visit the Alaska Nanooks. Tipoff in Fairbanks is set for 8:30 p.m. PST.