MONMOUTH, Ore. – The Western Oregon men's basketball team played their first Great Northwest Athletic Conference game in more than three weeks on Tuesday, breezing past the Concordia Cavaliers for a 94-73 win at NPE Gym.

A great majority of the first half would not indicate how dominant Western Oregon (7-2, 1-2 GNAC) would become in the game. Through more than 14 minutes of play, one possession separated the teams with the Wolves holding onto a narrow 30-28 advantage. The last six minutes of the first half proved a different story, however, as WOU posted a 10-0 run to follow and out-scored Concordia (1-10, 0-3 GNAC) 21-4 in the closing minutes of the half to hold a 51-32 lead at the break.

Dalven Brushier made a strong push for a triple-double in the first half alone, closing the opening period with eight points, eight rebounds and seven assists in the game. It was not to be, however, as Brushier finished the night with 14 points, nine boards and eight assists. Western Oregon has not had a triple-double since Dec. 16, 2003, when Robert Day posted 21 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists at home against Montana State Billings.

"I'm proud of the way our young unit came in and battled today," said Brushier. "They pushed the lead every time we met adversity. As far as the triple-double, I wanted to be aggressive and extend our lead however possible. I could have done more scoring, but when there is a better option available, that's what we have been trained to look for. Many of our guys made the extra pass today."

Coming out of the break, the Wolves extended their lead to as many as 27, utilizing a barrage of 3-point shooting. After taking just four 3-pointers among their first 21 attempts of the game, Western then peppered eight 3-point attempts over their next 11 shots, making seven total 3-pointers in the first half.

Junior Darius Lubom finished with a team-high 16 points along with three rebounds and three assists. He shot 6-for-9 from the field and 2-for-3 from deep, blocking two shots and swiping two steals.

Five total players scored in double figures for the Wolves, including the 13 bench points each for Tyreek Price and Zach Baugher. Both hit three 3-pointers.

"Any time you come back from a break, it's tough to find a rhythm, but I think we did a good job," said Zach Baugher. "My teammates found me in the right spots and I let the game come to me. It was great to have a good crowd at home for this win."

For the first time this season, no Western Oregon player logged 30 or more minutes in the game, getting 74 minutes out of the reserves from five separate players.

"I felt that we were tired coming out of the holiday," said freshman Antonio Salinas. "Once we got our legs back under us, everything started going the way we wanted it to. We run with this whole second unit together every day. Building that second group as tightly as we have and knowing where the ball needs to go, I think that's huge for us."

As a team, the Wolves shot 54.3 percent from the field and 52.4 percent from 3-point range. It was the fifth time this season WOU has shot better than 50 percent from the field and the fourth time they have eclipsed that mark from three. It was also the third consecutive game they hit at least 11 3-pointers in a contest. Defensively, it was a season-high with 10 steals for the Wolves.

Concordia was led by the game-high 19 points of Hunter Sweet. The Cavaliers were also able to get five players into double figures in scoring, getting 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench from Bryce Cheney.

"I thought it was a good win coming back from break over a Concordia team that is better than their record shows," said Western Oregon head coach Wes Pifer. "Break brings rust and I thought we saw a little from our group midway through the second half. Having five guys in double figures shows our depth as a unit and we had our bench really step up today."

Next up, the Wolves host the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets Thursday, Jan. 2. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PST at NPE Gym. It will immediately follow the 5:15 p.m. matchup between the Western Oregon women's basketball team and the Western Washington Vikings.