MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon men's basketball team made a statement in their final non-conference game of the 2019-20 regular season, upsetting the No. 6 Dixie State Trailblazers 91-75 to snap their 10-game winning streak at NPE Gym on Friday.
 
In a game that Western Oregon (6-2, 0-2 GNAC) led for 37:15, it wasn't until the final few minutes that the victory seemed in hand as Dixie State (10-1, 5-0 RMAC) made several pushes to keep the matchup competitive throughout play.
 
The day opened with a quick Trailblazers lead as Jarod Greene delivered on a turnaround jumper in the opening seconds of the game. DSU led at 6-5 after a back-and-forth first few possessions, but would not lead again in the game following that one-point advantage.
 
Western Oregon then posted their first of several crucial runs in the game to establish what would become an insurmountable lead. After trailing by one at 6-5, the Wolves ramped up offensively for a 17-4 run to establish a 12-point advantage. They ran their lead to as many as 21 in the first half, but Dixie State closed the half on an 8-0 run to make things manageable going into the break with WOU leading by 13.
 
Sophomore Cameron Cranston scored 14 of his 20 points in the first half, marking his second consecutive game of 20 points or more of offense. He was one of four Wolves to score in double figures and one of three to hit the 20-point threshold, falling one point shy of matching his career-high in scoring.
 
Coming out of the half, the Wolves wasted no time creating more separation from the sixth-ranked team in the country by pushing their lead to 26 within the first seven minutes of the second half.
 
The Wolves shot 54 percent from the field after the break, led by the 14 second-half points of senior Jaylyn Richardson. Richardson finished with a career-high 27 points in the game, barely missing a double-double with nine rebounds. His 27 points was the most by a WOU player since Darius Lubom's 30 Feb. 1 of this year against the Alaska Anchorage Seawolves in Monmouth.
 
"The guys did a good job on defense," said Richardson after his career performance. "That was our main focus tonight, we knew we had to get stops. They have a pretty good big that we had to focus on a lot. Everyone contributed on defense which was a big boost to our game."
 
Dixie State made their last big push after falling into their biggest hole of the game. Trailing 66-50, the Trailblazers rattled off 14 straight points to pull within 12 with 9:54 left to play. It would be too little, too late, however, as DSU could not close to single digits in the second half.
 
"I felt like we had a great week of practice and preparation leading up to this," said Western Oregon head coach Wes Pifer. "For the most part we did our best of taking away Dixie's ability to do what they wanted to do. One of the things I'm most proud of from today is we were 19-for-20 from the free throw line. For us to step up and put away a very good Dixie State team is a big moment."
 
Senior Dalven Brushier added on 22 points to match his season-high in scoring, shooting 6-for-15 from the field with five rebounds and two assists.
 
As a team, the Wolves shot 45.3 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from 3-point range, hitting 14 3-pointers in the game.
 
"It's great for us to be able to come out from the jump and be able to put the pressure on this quality of a team," said Brushier. "We talk a lot about winning the battles in each game and I think we did that from the outset tonight."
 
The win over the sixth-ranked team in the country is the first win over a top-ten opponent during the regular season for Western Oregon since the 2013-14 season. Their last such win was a victory over the No. 7 Cal Poly Pomona Broncos on Nov. 15, 2013.
 
The win concludes non-conference play for the season for the Wolves. Next up, they continue Great Northwest Athletic Conference action by hosting the Concordia Cavaliers on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at NPE Gym. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. PST in Monmouth.